Clinical significance of cytokine changes in acute and chronic brucellosis before and during treatment

Abstract

Objective To observe the levels of peripheral blood cytokines interferon-γ(IFN-γ) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) in patients with acute and chronic brucellosis before and during treatment, and to understand the differences of two immunocytokines in acute and chronic stage of brucellosis, and the effect of antibacterial therapy on these two cytokines to provide immunological basis for clinical evaluation of the therapeutic effect of brucellosis. Methods Research subjects were 36 pre-treatment acute brucellosis and 36 pre-treatment chronic brucellosis and 36 dur-treatment acute brucellosis and 36 dur-treatment chronic brucellosis, which were selected from Ulanqab Center for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control of Jining City with 25 local healthy persons as healthy controls. The levels of IFN-γ and IL-4 in serum were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in patients with acute and chronic brucellosis and control group before and during treatment. Parameters of IFN-γ and IL-4 were analyzed with One-Way ANOVA analysis in pre-treatment and dur-treatment acute brucellosis, chronic brucellosis and control groups. Results The means of IFN-γ [(462.79 ± 47.94), (431.92 ± 40.39), (280.50 ± 40.48) ng/L] and IL-4 [(606.11 ± 51.86), (550.66 ± 51.56), (383.24 ± 53.98) ng/L] were significantly different in the three groups before treatment (F= 141.84, 139.28, P 0.05). Conclusion Different immunological characteristics of cytokines in peripheral blood of patients with acute and chronic brucellosis before treatment have affected the therapeutic effect and clinical outcomes. Key words: Brucellosis; Gamma interferon; Interleukin 4; Treatment effect