The public health significance of the measurement of cytokines in serum

Abstract

As variable functions of cytokines have been proved in recent years, cytokine levels in biological fluids such as serum, plasma, and synovial fluid of patients with every kind of disease have been enthusiastically measured. As a result, many studies have shown an increase or decrease in the production of cytokines or abnormal cytokine levels in biological fluids. However, the relationship between the abnormal levels of cytokines and the intensity of the clinical symptoms or the prognosis remains unclear. The significance for the measurement of cytokines depends on whether it should be valid for detecting a preclinical status such as AST or ALT used for health checks or for disease screening such as some tumor markers. The purpose of this study is to know whether or not some cytokine levels in serum could be biomarkers for preventive purposes. Serum cytokine levels (IL-4, 6, 8, 12, and IFN-gamma) were measured in three different types of cohorts (nursery school infants, manufacturing workers and middle and old aged women) with chemiluminescence ELISA. The results showed no differences with atopic status in infants, pulmonary fibrosis in workers or with the decrease in bone stiffness, these results are mainly due to a great inter-individual variability of serum cytokine levels. This study concludes that serum cytokine levels are inappropriate as biomarkers for preventive purposes. However, a further detailed evaluation in healthy people with high serum cytokine levels may be necessary.