[Measurement of eosinophils and interleukin-17 in nasopharyngeal secretions of children under 5 years old with wheezing].
OBJECTIVE
To study the value of eosinophils (EOS) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) in nasopharyngeal secretions in the evaluation of progress of wheezing in children under 5 years old.


METHODS
Fifty-three children under five years old who had recurrent wheezing were classified into two groups: wheezing group I with atopic body (n=27) and wheezing group II without atopic body (n=26). Twenty pre-surgical children with non-infectious disease were used as the control group. Nasopharyngeal secretions were collected. Inflammatory cells in nasopharyngeal secretions were counted under the microscope. IL-17 levels in supernatants were measured using ELISA.


RESULTS
EOS counts in nasopharyngeal secretions in wheezing group I were significantly higher than those in wheezing group II and the control group (p<0.05, p<0.01, respectively). There were no significant differences in EOS counts between wheezing II and the control groups. The IL-17 levels in both wheezing groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.01), and the wheezing group I had increased IL-17 levels than wheezing group II (1 474+/-974 pg/mL vs 788+/-132 pg/mL; p<0.05). The IL-17 level was positively correlated with the EOS counts in wheezing group I (r=0.62, p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
EOS counts and IL-17 levels in nasopharyngeal secretions may be used as indices for identifying the tendency to develop asthma in children under 5 years old with wheezing.
Wang
Xiu-Fang
XF
Department of Pediatrics, Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China. wxf456@126.com
Yang
Jin-Ling
JL
Qiao
Jun-Ying
JY
Zhang
Yan-Li
YL
D002675:Child, Preschool; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000032:analysis*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000378:metabolism*; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000276:immunology*
D020381:Interleukin-17