title: High serum concentration of interleukin-18 in diabetic patients with foot ulcers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is well known that interleukin-18 (IL-18) plays a key role in the inflammatory process. However, there are limited data on the role IL-18 plays with diabetic foot ulcers, an acute and complex inflammatory situation. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate serum IL-18 levels of diabetic patients with foot ulcers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty diabetic patients with acute foot ulcers, 21 diabetic patients without a history of foot ulcers, and 21 healthy volunteers were enrolled in our study. Circulating levels of IL-18, and other biochemical markers are parameters of inflammation and were measured in all three groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diabetic patients both with and without foot ulcers had high IL-18 concentrations (P < 0.001 and P = 0.020, respectively) when compared with the nondiabetic volunteers. Those with foot ulcers had higher levels of IL-18 level (P < 0.001), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (P = 0.001), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (P < 0.001) than those without foot ulcers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that serum IL-18 concentrations were elevated in diabetic patients with acute diabetic foot ulcers. However, these findings do not indicate whether the IL-18 elevation is a cause or a result of the diabetic foot ulceration. Further studies are needed to show the role of IL-18 in the course of these ulcers.
authors.forename: Tevfik
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sabuncu
authors.forename: Mehmet Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Eren
authors.forename: Suzan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tabur
authors.forename: Omer Faruk
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Dag
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boduroglu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D017719:Diabetic Foot / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020382:Interleukin-18