Does increased urinary interleukin-1 receptor antagonist/interleukin-1beta ratio indicate good prognosis in renal transplant recipients?
GROUND: Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is produced by activated monocytes/macrophages; highly increased amounts of IL-1 have been found in renal tissue in acute rejection of renal grafts. The endogenous inhibitor of IL-1, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), is produced in many cells in response to the same stimulus as IL-1. There is some evidence that the balance between IL-1 and IL-1ra is important in the regulation of inflammatory responses. In many inflammatory diseases in both humans and animals, a high concentration of endogenous IL-1ra or administration of exogenous IL-1ra has been shown to relate to shorter recovery time or to reduced mortality. METHODS: We measured the urinary excretion of IL-1ra and IL-1beta during the first 3-6 posttransplant weeks in 23 patients with acute rejection (69 24-hr urine samples) and in 17 patients with stable graft function (51 24-hr urine samples) and expressed the results as cytokine/creatinine ratios. RESULTS: Within the follow-up time, patients
