| Popis: |
Evidence is accumulating that cytokines are important intermediates in the pathogenesis of many diseases such as asthma and pulmonary fibrosis. However, a major limitation to clinical studies of cytokines has been the inability to measure these important biomarkers in serum from normal, healthy controls. Without this capability, interpretation of apparently elevated levels in problematic, and evaluation of diseased level is impossible. We have recently developed chemiluminescence ELISA (CL-ELISA), resulting in a 100-fold increase in sensitivity. To assess the influence of age, smoking, and race on serum cytokine levels in healthy population, we measured IL-4, 5, 6, 10, IFN-gamma, and GM-CSF in serum of healthy Japanese (n = 38), and Americans (n = 10) using CL-ELISA. In this small population with narrow age range, no difference between smokers and nonsmokers was found for any cytokine. No correlations between age and cytokines was demonstrated. However, Japanese samples had lower levels of IL-4, 5, and 10 than American samples. Further evaluation using more controlled study design and larger populations will be necessary to determine whether this difference is due to inherent racial differences in Th2 cell function. |
