Preoperative interleukin-22 values add valuable information for outcome prediction following orthotopic liver transplantation: a preliminary study

• Published in: Annals of transplantation Vol. 19; p. 503
• Main Authors: Bingold, Tobias M, Just, Lara, Cuca, Colleen, Zacharowski, Kai, Mönch, Christian, Mühl, Heiko, Wissing, Heimo, Pipa, Gordon, Rosenberger, Peter, Bechstein, Wolf O, Paulus, Patrick, Scheller, Bertram
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 10.10.2014
• Subjects: Aged; Biomarkers - blood; C-Reactive Protein - metabolism; Cytokines - blood; End Stage Liver Disease - blood; End Stage Liver Disease - immunology; End Stage Liver Disease - surgery; Female; Germany - epidemiology; Humans; Interleukin-22; Interleukin-6 - blood; Interleukins - blood; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Length of Stay; Linear Models; Liver Transplantation - mortality; Male; Middle Aged; Preoperative Period; Prognosis; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 2329-0358
• DOI: 10.12659/AOT.890977

Recent findings support the idea that interleukin (IL)-22 serum levels are related to disease severity in end-stage liver disease. Existing scoring systems--Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), Survival Outcomes Following Liver Transplantation (SOFT) and Pre-allocation-SOFT (P-SOFT)--are well-established in appraising survival rates with or without liver transplantation. We tested the hypothesis that IL-22 serum levels at transplantation date correlate with survival and potentially have value as a predictive factor for survival. MELD, SOFT, and P-SOFT scores were calculated to estimate post-transplantation survival. Serum levels of IL-22, IL-6, IL-10, C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) were collected prior to transplantation in 41 patients. Outcomes were assessed at 3 months, 1 year, and 3 years after transplantation. IL-22 significantly correlated with MELD, P-SOFT, and SOFT scores (Rs 0.35, 0.63, 0.56 respectively, p<0.05) and with the discrimination in post-transplantation survival. IL-6 showed a heterogeneous pattern (Rs 0.40, 0.63, 0.57, respectively, p<0.05); CRP and PCT did not correlate. We therefore added IL-22 serum values to existing scoring systems in a generalized linear model (GLM), resulting in a significantly improved outcome prediction in 58% of the cases for both the P-SOFT (p<0.01) and SOFT scores (p<0.001). Further studies are needed to address the concept that IL-22 serum values at the time of transplantation provide valuable information about survival rates following orthotopic liver transplantation.