Haas Stephan L, Abbatista Monica, Brade Joachim, Singer Manfred V, Böcker Ulrich
Department of Medicine II, Medical Faculty at Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
Swiss Med Wkly. 2009 Mar 7;139(9-10):140-5. doi: 10.4414/smw.2009.12482.
An imbalance of cytokines is believed to contribute to the immunopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Serum cytokine levels may correlate with disease activity and acute phase reactivity.
To determine the correlation of systemic interleukin-18 (IL-18) levels with disease activity and other markers of inflammation using a crosssectional pilot study in outpatients with IBD.
Peripheral venous blood was obtained from 84 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and from 46 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-8, IFN-gamma, IL-12p70 and IL-18 were assessed by ELISA. Disease activity was expressed by the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and the Clinical Activity Index (CAI), respectively. Statistical analysis comprised correlation coefficients and linear regression analysis.
In CD IL-18 and other cytokine concentrations, CRP levels, leukocyte and platelet counts did not correlate with the CDAI. However, IL-18 as well as IL-8 and platelets positively correlated with CRP levels (p <0.001), while IFN-gamma and IL-12p70 did not. In contrast, in UC only the CAI and CRP levels showed a significant positive correlation. COMCLUSIONS: In CD IL-18 lacks significant correlation with the CDAI, as do serum acute phase protein and other cytokine markers of inflammation. As opposed to UC, IL-18 and IL-8 may, however, serve as indicators of acute phase reactivity in CD and should be explored in a larger study.
细胞因子失衡被认为与炎症性肠病（IBD）的免疫发病机制有关。血清细胞因子水平可能与疾病活动度和急性期反应相关。
通过对IBD门诊患者进行横断面初步研究，确定全身白细胞介素-18（IL-18）水平与疾病活动度及其他炎症标志物之间的相关性。
从84例克罗恩病（CD）患者和46例溃疡性结肠炎（UC）患者中采集外周静脉血。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）评估血清C反应蛋白（CRP）、IL-8、干扰素-γ（IFN-γ）、IL-12p70和IL-18水平。分别用克罗恩病活动指数（CDAI）和临床活动指数（CAI）表示疾病活动度。统计分析包括相关系数和线性回归分析。
在CD患者中，IL-18及其他细胞因子浓度、CRP水平、白细胞和血小板计数与CDAI均无相关性。然而，IL-18以及IL-8和血小板与CRP水平呈正相关（p<0.001），而IFN-γ和IL-12p70则不然。相比之下，在UC患者中，仅CAI与CRP水平呈显著正相关。
在CD患者中，IL-18与CDAI缺乏显著相关性，血清急性期蛋白和其他炎症细胞因子标志物也如此。与UC不同，IL-18和IL-8可能是CD急性期反应的指标，应在更大规模的研究中进行探索。
