title: An elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines profile in Behcet's disease: A multiplex analysis.
abstract: The serum levels of sixteen cytokines related to innate immunity, Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells in the sera of 44 patients with Behcet's Disease (BD) and 44 healthy controls have been investigated using the cytokine array technique. Among the cytokines related to innate immunity, the levels of IL-1α, IL-1 β, IL-6, IL-12, IL-15 and TNF-α were statistically higher in BD patients than healthy controls. In the case of Th1- and Th17-related cytokines, IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-17 and IL-23 were significantly higher in patients. From Th2-related cytokines, only IL-13 showed statistically higher levels in patients than controls. Among different evaluated cytokines, the differences in IL-1 α, IL-1 β, IL-6 and Ʃinnate-related cytokines were more prominent between cases and controls. In addition, the results showed that Ʃinnate- and ƩTh17-related cytokines are better indicators of cytokines imbalances in BD than each one of the innate- and Th17-related cytokines. Moreover, disease activity score and clinical activity index can also be affected by the levels of pro-inflammatory (IL-6) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4) cytokines. In conclusion, the results revealed that imbalances in the expression of innate immunity- as well as Th1- and Th17-related cytokines may play not only a pivotal role in BD pathogenesis but also can be important in disease severity.
authors.affiliation: Autoimmune Diseases Research Center, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Nasser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gholijani
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shiraz, Iran; Student Research Committee, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ataollahi
authors.affiliation: Autoimmune Diseases Research Center, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Immunology, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Afshin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samiei
authors.affiliation: Autoimmune Diseases Research Center, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Rheumatology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aflaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeedeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shenavandeh
authors.affiliation: Autoimmune Diseases Research Center, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Immunology, Shiraz, Iran. Electronic address: immunol2@sums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Eskandar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kamali-Sarvestani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D018836:Inflammation Mediators
keywords: Behcet’s disease; Cytokine profiles; Innate immunity; Th1; Th17; Th2