title: Interleukins 12 and 13 levels among beta-thalassaemia major patients.
abstract: The role of inflammatory cytokines in the pathophysiology of beta-thalassaemia is still unclear. In this study production levels of interleukins (IL)-12 and IL-13 were measured by commercial ELISA in culture supernatants of mitogen-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells-from 30 non-splenectomized beta-thalassaemia cases with iron overload and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. IL-12 levels were significantly lower among cases compared with controls (91.4 pg/mL versus 154.6 pg/mL), while IL-13 levels were significantly higher (42.5 pg/mL versus 5.7 pg/mL). There was a significant negative correlation between IL-12 and lL-13 levels among beta-thalassaemia cases (r= -0.42). Patients with beta-thalassaemia alone had higher IL-12 levels than beta-thalassaemia patients who were seropositive for chronic hepatitis B or C virus infection (140 pg/mL versus 50 pg/mL); IL-13 levels were slightly lower (65 pg/mL versus 67 pg/mL). An imbalance in the IL-12/IL-13 axis may be relevant to the pathophysiology of beta-thalassaemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hashad
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Hamed
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: El Gharabawy
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: El Metwally
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Morsi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018793:Interleukin-13; D018664:Interleukin-12