title: Increased interleukin-13 levels in patients with chronic heart failure.
abstract: A great number of basic and clinical studies have demonstrated that inflammatory cytokines play an important role in development and progress of heart failure. However, there is limited information about allergic cytokine interleukin-13 (IL-13). The inflammatory responses mediated by allergic cytokines can cause significant morbidity and mortality when they become chronic. Therefore, we elucidated the role of IL-13 in the pathophysiology of chronic heart failure. We measured plasma IL-13 levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 110 patients with chronic heart failure and 20 control subjects. Plasma IL-13 levels were increased in heart failure patients, compared with the controls, in association with NYHA functional class. In addition, IL-13 levels were correlated positively with plasma levels of brain natriuretic peptide and C-reactive protein, and negatively with left ventricular ejection fraction. Plasma IL-13 levels may be useful for evaluating disease severity in chronic heart failure.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Teruo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Takeaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nitto
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morooka
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Node
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D018793:Interleukin-13; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D002097:C-Reactive Protein