title: Otitis Media with Effusion in Children and the Impact of Risk Factors on Serum Cytokine Levels.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To evaluate the role of allergic-type and infectious-type cytokines in children with chronic otitis media with effusion (OME).
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated serum levels of interleukins (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-13, along with interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 35 children with OME and 28 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with OME had significantly higher levels of IL-5 in comparison with the control group, ranging from 1 pg/ml in cases to 0.04 pg/ml in controls (P=0.009). However, after adjusting for confounding variables, there was no significant difference in serum levels of IL-13, IL-4, IFN-γ, or TNF-α between the two groups (P=0.287, P=0.627, P=0.793, and P=0.217, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study suggest that in comparison with the control group, serum IL-5 levels were elevated in OME cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arshi
authors.affiliation: ENT and Head and Neck Research Center and Department   , Hazrat Rasoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran,Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dehghani Firouzabadi
authors.affiliation: ENT and Head and Neck Research Center and Department   , Hazrat Rasoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran,Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ghalehbaghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Epidemiologist, Mississippi State, United States.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dehghani Firouzabadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jalali
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shekarabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Mississippi State, United States.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sirous
authors.affiliation: ENT and Head and Neck Research Center and Department   , Hazrat Rasoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran,Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dehghani Firouzabadi
keywords: Inflammatory cytokines; Interleukins; Otitis media with effusion; Pediatrics