title: Circulating levels of interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-13 in Helicobacter pylori-infected patients, and their associations with bacterial CagA and VacA virulence factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine the association of the Helicobacter pylori virulence factors, cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) antibodies, with serum levels of interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-13 in H. pylori-infected duodenal ulcer (DU) patients and H. pylori-infected asymptomatic (AS) carriers in order to elucidate any correlation between them.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 67 DU patients, 48 AS individuals, and 26 healthy H. pylori-negative subjects were enrolled in this study. Serum concentrations of IL-12 and IL-13 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Patient sera were tested by Western blot method to determine the presence of serum antibodies to bacterial virulence antigens p120 (CagA) and p95 (VacA). Serum concentrations of IL-12 and IL-13 were compared in 9 groups, including 4 AS phenotypes (CagA⁺VacA⁺, CagA⁺VacA⁻, CagA⁻VacA⁺, CagA⁻VacA⁻), 4 DU phenotypes (CagA⁺VacA⁺, CagA⁺VacA⁻, CagA⁻VacA⁺, CagA⁻VacA⁻), and 1 control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results revealed that DU patients positive for CagA, independent of the anti-VacA antibody status, showed drastically elevated levels of IL-12 (251 ± 43 pg/ml) when compared with the other groups (p = 0.0001). No significant difference was found between groups regarding levels of IL-13 (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that in the DU group, the serum concentrations of IL-12 but not of IL-13 were influenced by bacterial CagA, independent of the VacA status, suggesting that high IL-12 levels may contribute to susceptibility to DU in CagA-positive individuals. These findings could possibly be considered to improve the predictive or prognostic values of inflammatory cytokines for DU, and also to design possible novel therapeutic approaches.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eskandari-Nasab
authors.forename: Adel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sepanjnia
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moghadampour
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hadadi-Fishani
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rezaeifar
authors.forename: Abolghasem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asadi-Saghandi
authors.forename: Behrooz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sadeghi-Kalani
authors.forename: Mahdi Dehghan
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Manshadi
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pourrajab
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pourmasoumi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D018793:Interleukin-13; C074689:VacA protein, Helicobacter pylori; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori; D018664:Interleukin-12