Levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in elderly patients with eczema / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the serum levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines and explore its roles in development and clinical features in the elderly patients with eczema. Methods The serum levels of interleukin-2(IL-2),interleukin 4(IL-4),interleukin-10(IL-10),interleukin-12(IL-12) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were derected in 50 elderly patients with eczema and 34 healthy elderly as control by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The above cytokines were compared between acute and chronic,generalized and localized eczema. Results The serum levels of IL-2 [(16.03±0.47)vs.(15.72±0.33) μg/L],IL-4[(14.04±0.56) vs.(13.56±0.16) μg/L],IL-10 [(33.01±5.40) vs.(29.49± 1.07) μg/L],IL-12 [(39.32± 3.54) vs.(37.93± 1.17) μg/L]and TNF-α [(27.33±0.72) vs.(26.38±0.48) μg/L] were higher in elderly eczema than in control (t/t'=3.55,5.74,4.49,2.58,6.69,all P＜0.05).The serum levels of all cytokines tested in acute eczema(t/t'=3.59,4.68,3.35,2.00,6.44,all P＜0.05),the levels of IL2,IL-4,IL-10 and TNF-α t'=2.46,5.50,3.83,3.10,P＜0.05,but not IL-12 (t'=1.77,P＜0.05) inchronic elderly eczema were increased as compared with control ( P ＜0.05).No significant difference was found in cytokines levels between acute and chronic eczema (P＞0.05)as well as between generalized and localized eczema(t=0.18,5.74,4.49,0.91,0.25,1.11,P＞0.05). Conclusions Changes of Th1 and Th2 cytokines may play some role in the pathogenesis of elderly eczema,but not characterized by clinical types of eczema.