Levels of Th1 and Th2 Cytokines in Patients with Nasal Polyps

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to investigate Th1 / Th2 (T helper) cell balance by examining Interleukin-4 (IL-4), Interleukin-5 (IL-5), Interleukin-10 (IL-10), Interleukin-17 (IL-17) and Interferon gamma (IFN γ) levels in serum in patients with nasal polyps (NPs). Patients and Methods: This study included 45 patients (mean age: 34.8 years) with NPs and a control group (mean age: 37.9) consisting of 45 healthy volunteers. Results: The mean IL-17 level in the NPs group (4.096 pg/ml) was significantly higher than the control group (2.219 pg/ml) (p<0.001). IL-5 levels were significantly higher in the control group. NPs group had significantly lower IL-5 level compared with the control group (1.981 pg/ml vs. 2.720 pg/ml, respectively: p<0.001). The mean IFN γ concentration was significantly lower in the NPs group (0.379 pg/ml) compared to the control group (0.439 pg/ml) (p=0.011). No significant differences were found in the IL-4 (3.25 pg/ml vs. 3.38 pg/ml) and IL-10 (11.249 pg/ml vs. 12.156 pg/ml) concentrations between NPs and the control groups (p=0.799 and p=0.255, respectively). Conclusions: Increased IL-17 levels were found in NPs patients. There was no significant differences in IL-4 and IL-10 values of the Th1 cytokines among the groups, whereas IL-5 was found to be low in the NPs group. IFN gamma values of Th2 cytokines were found to be low in the NPs group. According to these results, low IFN gamma levels and regulatory cytokine IL-7 activation may be effective in the etiopathogenesis of NPs.