Serum levels of resistin in allergic rhinitis and its relationship with disease severity.
BACKGROUND
Resistin, a recently discovered adipokine, has been shown to have proinflammatory properties in humans. The purpose of this study was to evaluate serum resistin levels in children with allergic rhinitis (AR) and to investigate its association with clinical disease severity, parameters of atopy and pro-/anti-inflammatory cytokines.


METHODS
A case-controlled study was performed on 50 pediatric patients with persistent AR and 30 healthy controls with similar age, sex, and body mass index. Serum levels of resistin, parameters of atopy, and cytokines were analyzed. The nasal symptom scores were evaluated and patients were classified into mild (n = 20) and moderate-severe (n = 30) persistent AR.


RESULTS
Serum levels of resistin were significantly increased in children with AR compared with controls (p < 0.001). Serum levels of resistin went hand in hand with disease severity as they were significantly higher in moderate-severe than mild persistent AR. In addition, they correlated positively with nasal symptom scores (r = 0.74; p < 0.001). A significant positive correlation was observed between serum levels of resistin and IL-6 (r = 0.358; p = 0.011).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with persistent AR were found to have higher serum levels of resistin, and resistin levels increased with the progress of disease severity. Resistin may represent a novel link between inflammation and AR.
Hsueh
Kai-Chung
KC
Division of Allergy and Immunology, Children's Medical Center, Taichung, Taiwan.
Lin
Ching-Yuang
CY
Lin
Ying-Ju
YJ
D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D047150:Eosinophil Cationic Protein / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D052243:Resistin / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D052243:Resistin; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D047150:Eosinophil Cationic Protein