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

Table 2 Comparisons of characteristics between patients with different levels of interleukin-6

Parameter	High IL-6 level (n = 207)	Low IL-6 level (n = 205)	P value
Age (yr)	44.8 ± 10.7	44.5 ± 10.5	0.777
Male, n (%)	172 (83.1)	174 (84.9)	0.621
Albumin (g/L)	29.6 ± 4.7	32.1 ± 16.8	0.039
Globulin (g/L)	29.8 ± 9.3	29.5 ± 8.7	0.795
Bilirubin (mg/dL)	20.0 ± 8.0	19.3 ± 7.8	0.362
ALT (U/L)	119 (63, 333)	178 (64, 433)	0.070
AST (U/L)	148 (84, 277)	167 (92, 361)	0.132
GGT (U/L)	61 (38, 95)	74 (42, 117)	0.018
Creatinine (μmol/L)	75.8 ± 28.8	72.5 ± 24.7	0.222
INR	2.3 ± 0.6	2.3 ± 0.6	0.924
WBC (× 109/L)	7.5 ± 3.6	7.0 ± 2.9	0.149
Hemoglobin (g/L)	113 ± 23	118 ± 23	0.036
Platelet count (× 109/L)	89 ± 49	90 ± 42	0.815
HBVDNA (log10 IU/mL)	3.1 ± 2.4	3.1 ± 2.2	0.825
MELD	24.7 ± 4.6	24.2 ± 4.4	0.241
HE, n (%)	33 (16.1)	24 (11.8)	0.206
UGB, n (%)	7 (3.4)	4 (2.0)	0.368
SBP, n (%)	73 (35.8)	78 (38.2)	0.608
Infection excluding SBP, n (%)1	43 (21.0)	41 (20.1)	0.826
Hyponatremia, n (%)	94 (43.8)	90 (42.5)	0.266
Renal disfunction, n (%)2	9 (4.4)	6 (2.9)	0.441
Mortality, n (%)	50 (24.2)	27 (13.2)	0.004

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; MELD: Model for End-stage Liver Disease; HE: Hepatic encephalopathy; UGB: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding; SBP: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis; IL-6: Interleukin-6.