Plasma interleukin 11 levels correlate with outcome of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Interleukin (IL) 11 is a multipotential cytokine with anti-inflammatory and fibrogenic properties. It is released into the peripheral blood from damaged brain tissue. The objective of this study was to determine plasma and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) levels of IL-11 in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and to correlate IL-11 with survival, related edema of the brain, volume of hematoma, and hydrocephalus. METHODS: Forty-three patients with spontaneous ICH were included. Twenty-three were male, and 20 were female. The mean age of the patients was 64.3 years. Plasma and CSF samples were collected on the first, second, third, and fourth days after spontaneous ICH onset. RESULTS: The levels of IL-11 in CSF (123.9 +/- 107 pg/mL) were 5 times higher than those in plasma (25.5 +/- 18.0 pg/mL) on the first day (P = .001 by paired t test) in our spontaneous ICH patients, and this significant difference persisted up to the third day of ICH. Plasma IL-11 levels in the nonsurvival group (41.2 +/- 18.9 pg/mL) were significantly higher than those in the survival group (22.2 +/- 15.2 pg/mL) on the second day of ICH onset (P = .024 by Mann-Whitney U test), and the significant difference extended to the fourth day. Plasma IL-11 levels of the hydrocephalus group were higher than those of the nonhydrocephalus group in the first 4 days of ICH, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: IL-11 was highly associated with mortality caused by spontaneous ICH and correlated with the hydrocephalus occurring after ICH onset. It is our belief that IL-11 can be a useful clinical marker for spontaneous ICH patients.