Alvarez et al (1) recently reported an increase in circulating concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) after the consumption of a meal. The authors compared fasting and postprandial inflammatory measurements in lean and overweight children. Notably, this study used an indwelling catheter for blood sampling over the 3 h after a meal. In contrast to fasting conditions in which several markers of inflammation were different between lean and overweight children, the authors reported no effect of adiposity on the postprandial IL-6 response (IL-6 increased 3-4-fold in both groups). In addition, because there was a profound change in IL-6 without a corresponding change in C-reactive protein (CRP), the authors concluded that the secretion of CRP is not tightly coupled to changes in circulating IL-6. This could simply represent different kinetics, with a slow induction of CRP occurring at some point after the 3-h period of observation. However, as discussed below, we feel that it is more likely that the postprandial increase in IL-6 is largely a product of the blood-sampling method.
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