Sharjah Institute of Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Pharmacy Department, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
PLoS One. 2022 Sep 22;17(9):e0274841. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274841. eCollection 2022.
T-helper 17 cell-mediated response and their effector IL-17 cytokine induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a major cause of COVID-19 disease severity and death. Therefore, the study aimed to determine if IL-17 level in saliva mirrors its circulatory level and hence can be used as a non-invasive biomarker for disease severity.
Interleukin-17 (IL-17) level was evaluated by ELISA in saliva and blood of 201 adult COVID-19 patients with different levels of severity. The IL-17 saliva level was also associated with COVID-19 disease severity, and need for mechanical ventilation and/or death within 29 days after admission of severe COVID-19 patients.
We found that IL-17 level in saliva of COVID-19 patients reflected its circulatory level. High IL-17 level in saliva was associated with COVID-19 severity (P<0.001), need for mechanical ventilation (P = 0.002), and/or death by 29 days (P = 0.002), after adjusting for patients' demographics, comorbidity, and COVID-19 serum severity markers such as D-Dimer, C-reactive protein, and ferritin.
We propose that saliva IL-17 level could be used as a biomarker to identify patients at risk of developing severe COVID-19.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）感染引起的辅助性 T 细胞 17 细胞介导的反应及其效应细胞因子白细胞介素-17（IL-17）是导致 COVID-19 疾病严重程度和死亡的主要原因。因此，本研究旨在确定唾液中的 IL-17 水平是否反映其循环水平，因此是否可以用作疾病严重程度的非侵入性生物标志物。
通过 ELISA 法评估 201 名不同严重程度的成年 COVID-19 患者的唾液和血液中的白细胞介素-17（IL-17）水平。IL-17 唾液水平还与 COVID-19 疾病严重程度、机械通气需求以及 29 天内严重 COVID-19 患者的死亡相关。
我们发现 COVID-19 患者唾液中的 IL-17 水平反映了其循环水平。高唾液 IL-17 水平与 COVID-19 严重程度相关（P<0.001），与需要机械通气（P = 0.002）和/或 29 天内死亡相关（P = 0.002），调整了患者的人口统计学、合并症以及 COVID-19 血清严重程度标志物如 D-二聚体、C 反应蛋白和铁蛋白。
我们提出唾液 IL-17 水平可以用作识别有发生严重 COVID-19 风险的患者的生物标志物。
