By using a sandwich ELISA, soluble human IL-6 receptor (sIL-6 R) levels were measured in the sera of 20 healthy children and of 25 patients with systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). In patients with systemic JRA, serum sIL-6 R levels (114.6 +/- 37.7 ng/ml) were significantly lower (P < 0.01) than those of healthy children (161.2 +/- 45.5 ng/ml). Serum sIL-6 R levels were negatively cor...

In the CNS, astrocytes are a major inducible source of interleukin-6 (IL-6). Although IL-6 has beneficial effects in the CNS because of its neurotrophic properties, its overexpression is generally detrimental, adding to the pathophysiology associated with CNS disorders. Many factors have been shown to induce IL-6 expression by astrocytes, particularly the cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (...

Interleukin 1 (IL-1) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) are typical examples of multifunctional pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in the regulation immune response, hematopoiesis, inflammation. Both peripheral intraventricular administration these causes acute phase symptoms, e.g. fever, activation hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis psychological depression. The amygdala belongs to structures limbic s...