Clinical Significance of Serum TNF-a and IL-6 Levels in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome

Several components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) facilitate its diagnosis, including abdominal obesity, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. The production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) seem to be associated with MetS components. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the serum levels of TNFα and IL-6 with metabolic syndrome and its components. This case-control study investigated a total of 250 subjects, comprising 125 healthy controls from the Kerman Blood Transfusion Organization and 125 metabolic syndrome patients. Serum IL-6 and TNF-a levels were measured using the ELISA technique. There was a significant increase in the serum levels of TNF-a and IL-6 in patients with metabolic syndrome compared with the controls. However, a lack of correlation between MetS components and TNF-a and IL-6 serum levels was detected. Patients with MetS had significantly raised serum IL-6 and TNF-a levels compared with the controls, supporting the evidence that inflammation plays an important role in the immunopathogenesis of the disease. Additionally, serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-a are suggested as valuable predicting factors for MetS. The lack of association between IL-6 and TNF-a serum levels and MetS components remains to be investigated by further research.