title: Serum levels of TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-17, and IL-18 in patients with active psoriasis and correlation with disease severity.
abstract: Recent progress in the understanding of psoriasis has shown that the regulation of local and systemic cytokines plays an important role in its pathogenesis. The most often used psoriasis score is the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI). A simple laboratory test from a blood sample would be an attractive, patient-independent, and observer-independent marker of disease severity. To this end, we evaluated the association of serum levels of some proinflammatory cytokines in vivo and their correlation with severity of psoriasis. The serum levels of cytokines levels were determined with the use of the ELISA method. All mean values except IL-17 levels of patients were significantly higher than those of controls. There was a significant correlation between serum levels of IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-17, and IL-18, and severity of the disease. Psoriasis can be described as a T-cell-mediated disease, with a complex role for a variety of cytokines, which has led to the development of new immunomodulatory therapies. In this study, serum TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, and IL-18 levels were significantly higher in active psoriatic patients than in controls. Furthermore, high levels of IFN-gamma, IL-12, and IL-18 correlated with the clinical severity and activity of psoriasis, and those measurements of serum levels of these cytokines may be objective parameters for the disease severity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Turkey. ozerari@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ozer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arican
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aral
authors.forename: Sezai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasmaz
authors.forename: Pinar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciragil
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood*; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification; D012016:Reference Values; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007378:Interleukins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma