Does treatment affect the levels of serum Interleukin-6, Interleukin-8 and procalcitonin in diabetic foot infection? A pilot study

Aims: To investigate about serum PCT, IL-6 and IL-8 levels and how they are affected by the treatment in diabetic foot patients. Methods: Fifty patients' blood samples were taken to study ESR and CRP, IL-6, IL-8 and PCT before and at the 14th day of the treatment. Results: The pretreatment results of the 50 patients showed positive correlations between PCT and either ESH (r = 0.49, p<0.001), or CRP (r = 0.56, p<0.001). Similarly, there was a positive correlation between IL-6 and ESH (r = 0.46, p = 0.001), just like as it was between IL-6 and CRP (r = 0.54, p<0.001). At the 14th day, the levels of ESR (70 +/- 30.2 and 58.4 +/- 26.2, p = 0.02), CRP (63.8 +/- 73.1 and 18.1 +/- 19.7, p<0.001) and PCT (0.6 +/- 2.1 and 0.05 +/- 0.02, p = 0.007) were significantly decreased while IL-6 was decreased at a close range to statistical significancy at healing patients (97.5 +/- 147.2 and 47.1 +/- 77.6; p = 0.05), but they did not at nonhealing patients. IL-8 levels were not changed anyhow. Conclusions: PCT was significantly decreased such as ESR and CRP were in the early phase of healing; IL-6 and IL-8 levels were also decreased by the treatment, but not statistically significantly. IL-6 and PCT were affected in correlation with the other inflammatory parameters in the beginning, but IL-8 was not. PCT and IL-6 may be useful like CRP and ESR in the diagnosis and follow up of diabetic foot infection, but IL-8 is not. Further investigation is needed. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.