[The evaluation of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) level in peripheral blood of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis].
We investigated the serum level of IL-8 and TNF-alpha using ELISA in 16 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis before administration of antituberculous drugs and in age-, smoking habit-matched 20 healthy controls. The mean level of serum IL-8 in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (P < 0.001). The mean level of serum TNF-alpha in tuberculosis patients was also high, while TNF-alpha was not detectable in the sera of healthy controls. We also examined the relationship between clinical pictures mainly defined by radiographic findings and the serum levels of IL-8 and TNF-alpha. The serum IL-8 level of 9 patients with tuberculous cavity is significantly higher than that of 7 patients without cavity. (P < 0.05) We classified the patients with cavities into two subgroups according to the radiographic classification of the Japanese Society of Tuberculosis. Four patients with advanced lesions on chest X-ray showed higher serum IL-8 level than 5 patients with moderate lesions (P < 0.05). On the other hand, there was no correlation between serum TNF-alpha level and radiographic findings. These results suggest that IL-8 appears to be involved in the formation of tuberculous cavitary lesion.
Nakaya
M
M
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nara Medical University, Japan.
Yoneda
T
T
Yoshikawa
M
M
Tsukaguchi
K
K
Tokuyama
T
T
Fu
A
A
Okamoto
Y
Y
Fukuoka
K
K
Yamamoto
C
C
Fukuoka
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000276:immunology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis*
D016209:Interleukin-8; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha