Evaluation of the levels of IFN-gamma, IL-10 and copper in children with Visceral Leishmaniasis

Abstract EN

Background : Visceral Leishmaniasis( VL ) is a systemic infection of the reticulo- endothelial system that could affect the immune system and biochemical parameters like the concentration of Copper which may be significantly ve : The study aims to evaluate the level of cytokines (INF- y, IL-10 ) and trace element (Cu ) in Visceral Leishmaniasis in children after diagnosis.

patients and Methods : A total of 98 children, whose their ages ranged (6 menthes -5 years) were attending the Central Public Health Laboratory and Teaching Laboratories of Medical City, who were suspected to be infected with kala-azar, who were diagnosed by both IFAT technique and Rapid Kala-azar (r-K39) detecting test and trying to evaluate the level of cytokines (INF- y, IL-10) by ELISA and concentration of (Cu) by Atomic Absorption Technique Results : The dipstick test (r-K39) showed a high sensitivity of (92.1 %) compared to IFAT (73.6 %) with a specificity of 100 % for both tests.

Serum samples of 56 child with positive results in IFAT and rK39 test were used for the investigation of IL-10, IFN-y.

The mean levels of IL-10 (80.207 ± 77.54 Pg / ml) and IFN-y (5.426 ± 4.599 IU / ml) were highly significant increased in patients compared to healthy controls.

The mean level of serum Cu (171.54 ± 10.37 pg / dl) in VL patients.

Conclusions: This study showed that the (r-K39) dipstick test could be more sensitive than IFAT technique in the diagnosis of VL with a specificity of 100 % for both test according to clinical diagnosis.

Both IFN-y & IL-10 were significantly increased in VL patients as compared to controls group.

Copper concentration was significantly higher in VL patients than healthy controls.