| Popis: |
Brucellosis is a common disease, seen worldwide and in our country as well. Effective immune response is mediated by Th1 cells in brucellosis. Cytokines are thought to have an important role in the pathogenesis of brucellosis and the Th1/Th2 balance may be involved in the susceptibility or resistance to the disease. The aim of this study was to detect the difference of serum interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-12 levels between patients with acute brucellosis and the control group and to investigate the correlation between those cytokines, C-reactive-protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in acute brucellosis patients. Fifty patients with acute brucellosis followed between August 2002 and August 2006 in Ankara Research and Training Hospital Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Department were included to our study. The control group included 31 healthy persons. The mean serum IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-12 levels in patients with acute brucellosis were higher than the control group and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p< 0.05). In acute brucellosis group, for CRP, we found positive correlation with IFN-γ, IL-12 and ESR (r= 0.31, p< 0.05; r= 0.31, p< 0.05; r= 0.53, p< 0.01, respectively). Also there was a positive correlation between IL-12 and IFN-γ (r= 0.62, p< 0.01). There was no significant correlation between ESR and the cytokines. For IL-6, there was not any significant correlation with the other cytokines, ESR and CRP (p> 0.05). In conclusion, significantly high levels of IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-12 in acute brucellosis implies the role of those cytokines in the pathogenesis of that infection. Further studies including more patients at different stages of the disease would be helpful to understand the precise role of cytokines in brucellosis pathogenesis. |
