Estimation Of Interleukin 6 Levels And Its Correlation With Severity Of Chronic Heart Failure

Background: Chronic heart failure is associated with persistent systemic inflammation, which contributes to ventricular dysfunction and disease progression.Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that may reflect the severity of myocardial impairment.Evaluating its relationship with clinical and echocardiographic parameters may help clarify its potential role as a biomarker in chronic heart failure.Aim and Objectives: To estimate serum IL-6 levels in patients with chronic heart failure and determine their correlation with disease severity, assessed using New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).Results: The study included 45 patients with chronic heart failure.NYHA Classes II, III and IV comprised 21 (46.67%), 17 (37.78%)and 7 (15.56%)patients, respectively.The overall mean LVEF was 41 ± 9%.Mean LVEF declined significantly from 49 ± 7% in NYHA Class II to 35 ± 4% in Class III and 33 ± 4% in Class IV (p=0.001).NYHA class demonstrated a strong negative correlation with LVEF (r=-0.669;p=0.001).The overall mean serum IL-6 level was 16.68 ± 4.49.Mean IL-6 levels were 15.83 ± 4.04, 17.50 ± 4.62 and 17.27 ± 5.63 in NYHA Classes II, III and IV, respectively, without a statistically significant difference (p=0.254).IL-6 showed a weak, non-significant positive correlation with NYHA class (r=0.153;p=0.316).However, IL-6 demonstrated a statistically significant moderate negative correlation with LVEF (r=-0.480;p=0.001).Conclusion: Serum IL-6 was significantly associated with reduced LVEF but not with NYHA functional class.These findings suggest that IL-6 may reflect objective echocardiographic impairment more closely than symptom-based functional severity.Serum IL-6 may therefore serve as a supplementary marker of myocardial dysfunction in chronic heart failure...