Serum interleukin-8 as a serologic marker of activity in Behçet's disease.
BACKGROUND
Immune dysregulation has been shown to be one of the major aspects of the yet unknown pathogenesis of Behçet's disease. Interleukin-8 (IL-8), a major chemokine with pivotal effects concerning leukocytes and endothelial cells, has been found to be elevated in patients with Behçet's disease.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the significance of elevated levels of IL-8 with respect to the activity of Behçet's disease.


METHODS
Sixty-seven consecutive patients with Behçet's disease (37 males, 30 females; 32.5 +/- 9.3 years) were enrolled in our study. The number of active clinical manifestations at the time of serum sampling was recorded. The degree of association between disease activity and IL-8, C-reactive protein, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate was assessed.


RESULTS
Serum levels of IL-8 increased as the number of clinically involved organs increased (P < 0.05). C-reactive protein and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate showed no correlation with disease activity.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study confirms that the IL-8 level is a more sensitive marker of disease activity than the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. It may be assumed that IL-8 plays an important role in the pathophysiology of Behçet's disease.
Gür-Toy
Güneş
G
Department of Dermatology, Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital, Turkey. gunesgur@hotmail.com
Lenk
Nurdan
N
Yalcin
Basak
B
Aksaray
Sabahat
S
Alli
Nuran
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D015415:Biomarkers; D016209:Interleukin-8; D002097:C-Reactive Protein