Genomics Laboratory, Department of Studies in Zoology, University of Mysore, Manasagangothri, Mysore 570 006, Karnataka, India.
Cytokine. 2012 Nov;60(2):431-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2012.05.012. Epub 2012 Jun 12.
Serum protein analysis for noninvasive quantification of airway inflammation in asthma is a promising research tool in the field of lung diseases. Cytokines are believed to have major role in inflammatory process of the airways of the lung. There is an imbalance between T-helper (Th)-2 cells, which secrete interleukin (IL)-4 and interleukin (IL)-13, and Th1 cells, which secrete interferon (IFN)-gamma in asthma. To test the hypothesis that serum IL-13 and IL-4 levels may be elevated whereas IFN-gamma would be decreased in this cohort of patients, a property that could make them possible candidate biomarkers in determining asthma occurrence and severity, we measured concentrations of IL-4, IL-13 and IFN-gamma in serum samples of 88 subjects (44 normal, 12 with mild asthma, 16 with moderate asthma, and 16 with severe asthma). Serum Levels of IL-4, IL-13, and IFN-gamma were determined by an enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA). Median serum level of IFN-gamma in asthmatic patients was 8.0 pg/ml, while it was 11.4 pg/ml in healthy controls. However, the difference was not significant. Among the different age groups in whom IFN-gamma was assessed, the highest median value in both cases and controls was observed in the age group of 31-40 years. The median serum level of IL-13 was 40.0 pg/ml in asthmatic patients and 58.25 pg/ml in healthy controls. The difference was not significant. On subgroup analysis, no significant difference of IFN-gamma and IL-13 between asthma of different severities was observed. The study also revealed nonsignificant difference of serum cytokines with the duration of asthma, number of allergens, and severity of sensitization. Normal serum levels of IFN-gamma and IL-13 in asthmatic patients suggest their neutral role in the inflammatory process; however, more studies are required to establish the effect of these cytokines in adulthood asthma in different ethnic populations.
血清蛋白分析可无创定量气道炎症，是肺部疾病领域很有前途的研究工具。细胞因子被认为在肺部气道炎症过程中起主要作用。在哮喘中，Th2 细胞（分泌白细胞介素（IL）-4 和白细胞介素（IL）-13）和 Th1 细胞（分泌干扰素（IFN）-γ）之间存在失衡。为了验证血清 IL-13 和 IL-4 水平可能升高而 IFN-γ 水平降低的假设，这些细胞因子可能成为确定哮喘发生和严重程度的潜在生物标志物，我们测量了 88 例患者（44 例正常、12 例轻度哮喘、16 例中度哮喘和 16 例重度哮喘）血清样本中 IL-4、IL-13 和 IFN-γ 的浓度。采用酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）测定血清 IL-4、IL-13 和 IFN-γ 的浓度。哮喘患者 IFN-γ 的中位血清水平为 8.0 pg/ml，而健康对照组为 11.4 pg/ml。然而，差异无统计学意义。在评估 IFN-γ 的不同年龄组中，病例组和对照组的中位数均最高，均为 31-40 岁。哮喘患者血清 IL-13 的中位数为 40.0 pg/ml，健康对照组为 58.25 pg/ml。差异无统计学意义。亚组分析显示，不同严重程度哮喘患者 IFN-γ 和 IL-13 无显著差异。研究还发现，血清细胞因子与哮喘持续时间、过敏原数量和致敏严重程度无显著差异。哮喘患者血清 IFN-γ 和 IL-13 水平正常提示其在炎症过程中起中性作用；然而，需要更多研究来确定这些细胞因子在不同种族人群中成年期哮喘中的作用。
