High levels of serum interleukin-6 increase mortality of hepatitis B virus-associated acute-on-chronic liver failure

Table 1 Comparisons of deceased and surviving patients

Parameter	All patients (n = 412)	Surviving patients (n = 335)	Deceased patients (n = 77)	P value
Age (yr)	44.6 ± 10.6	43.9 ± 10.6	47.6 ± 10.2	0.007
Male, n (%)	346 (84.0)	279 (83.3)	67 (87.0)	0.421
Albumin (g/L)	30.8 ± 12.3	30.5 ± 5.1	32.2 ± 6.7	0.587
Globulin (g/L)	29.6 ± 9.0	29.7 ± 8.9	29.2 ± 9.4	0.624
Bilirubin (mg/dL)	19.6 ± 7.9	19.0 ± 7.7	22.4 ± 8.1	0.001
ALT (U/L)	145 (63-360)	151 (63-353)	183 (74-458)	0.255
AST (U/L)	153 (86-299)	143 (85-285)	189 (110-363)	0.100
GGT (U/L)	67 (40-101)	69 (40-102)	57 (39-94)	0.226
Creatinine (μmol/L)	74.2 ± 26.8	71.6 ± 21.7	85.1 ± 40.8	0.006
INR	2.3 ± 0.6	2.7 ± 0.7	2.7 ± 0.7	< 0.001
WBC (× 109/L)	7.3 ± 3.3	7.0 ± 3.0	8.3 ± 4.1	0.015
Hemoglobin (g/L)	115 ± 23	117 ± 21	111 ± 29	0.095
Platelet count (× 109/L)	89 ± 45	90 ± 43	85 ± 53	0.367
HBV DNA (log10 IU/mL)	3.1 ± 2.3	3.0 ± 2.3	3.3 ± 2.4	0.467
MELD	24.4 ± 4.5	23.6 ± 4.2	27.8 ± 4.5	< 0.001
HE, n (%)	57 (13.9)	37 (11.1)	20 (26.7)	< 0.001
UGB, n (%)	11 (2.7)	5 (1.5)	6 (7.8)	0.002
SBP, n (%)	151 (37.0)	125 (37.7)	26 (34.2)	0.575
Infection excluding SBP, n (%)1	84 (20.5)	65 (19.5)	19 (25.0)	0.286
Hyponatremia, n (%)	178 (43.8)	138 (41.9)	40 (51.9)	0.151
Renal disfunction, n (%)2	15 (3.7)	6 (1.8)	9 (11.8)	< 0.001
IL-6 (pg/mL)	11.8 (5.4-25.9)	10.4 (4.7-22.3)	17.9 (7.3-57.6)	0.011

¹Including respiratory, urinary, and digestive infections, as well as sepsis.

²Serum creatinine level ranging from 1.5 to 1.9 mg/dL[7]. P values shown in bold indicate statistical significance. ALT: Alanine transaminase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; GGT: γ-glutamyl transferase; INR: International normalized ratio; WBC: White blood cell count; HBV DNA: Hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid; MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease; HE: Hepatic encephalopathy; UGB: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding; SBP: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis; IL-6: Interleukin-6.