title: [Correlation between acute schistosomiasis japonica and serum interleukin-33 levels].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the function of interleukin-33 (IL-33) in the development of human acute schistosomiasis japonica by determining the serum IL-33 levels in acute schistosomiasis japonica patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four patients with acute schistosomiasis japonica were recruited from schistosomiasis endemic lake areas, and 15 controls were recruited outside the schistosomiasis endemic areas. The demographic data and venous blood were collected from all the subjects. The serum IL-33 levels of all the subjects were tested by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All the results were statistically analyzed with Stata 10.0 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The serum IL-33 levels of the patients with acute schistosomiasis japonica [517.33 (334.65, 1 056.88) pg/ml] were significantly higher than those of the controls [1.66(1.66, 6.35) pg/ml] (Z = -3.207, P = 0.001). The correlation coefficients between serum IL-33 levels and numbers of eosinophils, serum IL-33 levels and duration of infection were both 0.8 (P = 0.2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The serum IL-33 level is significantly elevated in the patients with acute schistosomiasis japonica, indicating that IL-33 may play a pro-inflammatory role in the acute stage of schistosomiasis japonica and participate in initiating the Th2 type immune responses between 7 and 9 weeks after the infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Key laboratory on Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Ruo-Qing
authors.initials: RQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yi-Biao
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Lu-Fang
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiu-Xia
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Zhi-Jie
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Li-Wen
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Qing-Wu
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000067596:Interleukin-33; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012554:Schistosomiasis japonica / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C506536:IL33 protein, human; D000067596:Interleukin-33; D007378:Interleukins