Th-1/Th-2 cytokine pattern in human amoebic colitis.
Amoebiasis, caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is still considered a major health problem in developing countries. Since the immune response during human amoebiasis has not been clearly defined, we chose to evaluate cytokine production in patients suffering from amoebic colitis. A case-control association study was carried out on 62 subjects, including 31 patients with amoebic colitis and 31 healthy controls (age, sex and geographic region-matched). Serum levels of IL-12, IFN-gamma, IL-13 and IL-5 were measured by solid-phase sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbant assay. Serum levels of IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-13 and IL-5 were higher in the patients with amoebic colitis than in healthy controls, but were only statistically increased for IL-5 (p = 0.04) and IL-13 (p = 0.014). Stratification of patients according to gender revealed that IL-13 was significantly elevated in men as compared to levels measured in women (p = 0.04). These findings suggest that E. histolytica induce a mixed Th-1/Th-2 response with a polarization toward Th-2 during the early stage of amoebiasis, which may aide in developing a clinical illness.
Rafiei
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A
Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
Ajami
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A
Hajilooi
M
M
Etemadi
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000562:Amebiasis / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D000855:Anorexia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood*; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000097:blood*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
D018793:Interleukin-13; D019409:Interleukin-15; D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma