The Role of Chlamydia Pneumoniae, Mycoplasma Pneumoniae, and Interleukin-8 in Asthma Exacerbation

Abstract

Asthma is one of the most chronic and potentially disabling diseases in childhood and young adulthood. So, the aim of the present work was to study the role of atypical bacteria [M. pneumoniae and C. pneumoniae] and the chemokine IL-8 in the pathogenesis of asthma exacerbation. One hundred and twenty persons equally distributed into four groups were included in this study. Group I were patients with asthma exacerbation, group II were those with mild to moderate asthma, and group III were non-asthmatic patients clinically diagnosed as having lower respiratory tract infection. Serum samples from patients in the three groups were tested to detect M. pneumoniae and C. pneumoniae lgM antibodies and the chemokine IL-8 by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The fourth group included non-asthmatic healthy subjects representing the control group for the assay of IL-8 level. The results of the study showed that patients with asthma exacerbation had the highest percentage of being positive for either mycoplasma or chlamydia infection [53.3%] was seen among the asthma exacerbation group. In patients with asthma exacerbation and mild to moderate asthma, 20% were seropositive for both chlamydia and mycoplasma while only one [3.3%] patient in group III was positive for both. The difference among the studied groups was statistically significant. The asthma exacerbation group had significantly the highest mean for IL-8 level suggesting that it may have a role in the inflammatory process. It can be concluded that atypical bacteria are possible contributors to asthma exacerbations, deserving careful consideration in management of such patients.