TNF-α, soluble TNF receptor and interleukin-6 plasma levels in the general population

The cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), soluble TNF receptors p55 and p75, and interleukin 6 (IL-6) are involved in host defense against several microbiological agents, in the process of inflammation and also in body weight regulation. In the present study, we sought to assess the influence of age, gender, smoking, and body mass index on plasma levels of TNF-α, TNF receptors, and IL-6 in more than 550 adult subjects randomly selected from the Bavarian population. None of the cytokine parameters had a normal distribution and all distributions were significantly skewed. The cytokine plasma levels investigated increased significantly with age, while gender had a relatively weaker influence on the plasma levels. Plasma levels of TNF-α, TNF receptors, and IL-6 correlated significantly with the BMI. The study provides insights into factors influencing the cytokine levels investigated in a randomly chosen study sample.