title: Serum concentration of IL-18 correlates with disease extent in young children with atopic dermatitis.
abstract: Interleukin (IL)-18 is a pleiotropic cytokine that plays an important role in both type 1 (Th1) and type 2 (Th2) helper T lymphocyte-mediated immunity. Previous studies have suggested that IL-18 may be an inflammatory marker for atopic dermatitis (AD). The purpose of our study was to test whether the serum concentration of IL-18 is a useful inflammatory marker for assessing AD severity in young children. Nineteen AD patients with a median age of 2.2 years (interquartile range 0.7-4.6 years) were recruited. The severity of AD was clinically determined using the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index. Their SCORAD score was 23.9 (range 18.6-34.8). Serum IL-18 levels were determined by sandwich enzyme immunoassay. The median serum concentration of IL-18 was 394 pg/ml (interquartile range 204-612 pg/ml). Serum IL-18 levels correlated with SCORAD scores (r = 0.502, p = 0.029) and their extent component (r = 0.633, p = 0.004). When compared with mild disease with low SCORAD scores, the serum concentration in moderate to severe disease was significantly higher (p = 0.014). We concluded that serum IL-18 concentration is elevated in young children with AD. It may be a useful inflammatory marker that correlates with the extent component of AD in particular, and differentiates mild disease from more severe disease when used for assessing AD severity in young children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, 6/F, Clinical Sciences Building, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China. b103892@mailserv.cuhk.edu.hk
authors.forename: Kam Lun Ellis
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Hon
authors.forename: Ting Fan
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Kwok Chiu
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Chun Kwok
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Christopher W K
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007223:Infant; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020382:Interleukin-18