Sun A, Wang J T, Chia J S, Chiang C P
School of Dentistry, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Br J Dermatol. 2005 Jun;152(6):1187-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2005.06497.x.
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T-cell-mediated inflammatory disease. Interleukin (IL)-8 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine of host response to injury and inflammation.
To investigate whether serum IL-8 level was a more sensitive marker than serum IL-6 level in monitoring the disease activity of OLP and to assess whether IL-8 was a useful serum marker in evaluating the therapeutic effects of levamisole on OLP patients.
In this study, we used a solid phase, two-site sequential chemiluminescent immunometric assay to determine the baseline serum levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in 158 patients with OLP, nine patients with traumatic ulcers (TU) and 54 normal control subjects. Some OLP patients with the serum IL-6 or IL-8 levels higher than the upper limit of normal serum concentration were treated with levamisole for 0.5-6.0 months and their serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels were measured after treatment.
We found that 28% (44 of 158) OLP, 28% (40 of 142) erosive OLP (EOLP), and 25% (four of 16) nonerosive OLP (NEOLP) patients had a serum IL-6 level greater than the upper normal limit of 4.7 pg mL(-1). In contrast, 63% (99 of 158) OLP, 63% (90 of 142) EOLP and 56% (nine of 16) NEOLP patients had a serum IL-8 level greater than the upper normal limit of 8.7 pg mL(-1). In some OLP patients with the serum IL-6 or IL-8 levels higher than the upper limit of normal serum concentration, treatment with levamisole for a period of 0.5-6.0 months could significantly reduce the mean serum IL-6 level from 14.3 +/- 1.9 pg mL(-1) to 3.2 +/- 0.6 pg mL(-1) (P < 0.001) and could significantly reduce the mean serum IL-8 level from 95.8 +/- 17.1 pg mL(-1) to 14.8 +/- 5.8 pg mL(-1) (P < 0.001).
Because measurement of the serum IL-8 level can detect more OLP patients with an abnormal serum level than measurement of the serum IL-6 level (63% vs. 28%), we conclude that serum IL-8 level is a more sensitive marker than serum IL-6 level in monitoring the disease activity of OLP. Levamisole can modulate both the serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels in OLP patients. IL-8, like IL-6, is also a useful serum marker in evaluating the therapeutic effects of levamisole on OLP patients.
口腔扁平苔藓（OLP）是一种T细胞介导的炎症性疾病。白细胞介素（IL）-8是宿主对损伤和炎症反应的促炎细胞因子。
研究血清IL-8水平在监测OLP疾病活动中是否比血清IL-6水平更敏感，并评估IL-8是否是评价左旋咪唑对OLP患者治疗效果的有用血清标志物。
在本研究中，我们采用固相、双位点顺序化学发光免疫分析法测定158例OLP患者、9例创伤性溃疡（TU）患者和54例正常对照者的血清IL-6和IL-8基线水平。对部分血清IL-6或IL-8水平高于正常血清浓度上限的OLP患者给予左旋咪唑治疗0.5 - 6.0个月，并在治疗后检测其血清IL-6和IL-8水平。
我们发现，28%（158例中的44例）的OLP患者、28%（142例糜烂性OLP（EOLP）中的40例）和25%（16例非糜烂性OLP（NEOLP）中的4例）血清IL-6水平高于4.7 pg/mL的正常上限。相比之下，63%（158例中的99例）的OLP患者、63%（142例EOLP中的90例）和56%（16例NEOLP中的9例）血清IL-8水平高于8.7 pg/mL的正常上限。在一些血清IL-6或IL-8水平高于正常血清浓度上限的OLP患者中，给予左旋咪唑治疗0.5 - 6.0个月可使血清IL-6平均水平从14.3±1.9 pg/mL显著降至3.2±0.6 pg/mL（P<0.001），并可使血清IL-8平均水平从95.8±17.1 pg/mL显著降至14.8±5.8 pg/mL（P<0.001）。
由于检测血清IL-8水平比检测血清IL-6水平能发现更多血清水平异常的OLP患者（63%对28%），我们得出结论，血清IL-8水平在监测OLP疾病活动中比血清IL-6水平更敏感。左旋咪唑可调节OLP患者的血清IL-6和IL-8水平。与IL-6一样，IL-8也是评价左旋咪唑对OLP患者治疗效果的有用血清标志物。
