Evaluation of INF-γ and IL-4 in early and late cutaneous leishmaniasis patients with single and multiple sores

Abstract EN

Ninety-five patients infected with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) at AL-Karama Hospital in Baghdad were included in this study; 60 individuals were infected with single sore, and 35 with multiple sores.

The study also included thirty healthy individuals were treated as a control group.

Serum samples from all groups mentioned above were tested for cellular immune response at different stages of the disease activity (early and late) by estimation of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits.

The results of this study revealed highly significant increase (P<0.01) in IFN-γ levels which were detected in CL patients with single and multiple sores (mean 67.30 ± 59.41pg/ml) in comparison to control groups (mean 3.81±1.79 pg/ml) however, a significant differences were (P>0.01) noticed among patients with single sores (mean 47.2 ± 27.80pg/ml) and multiple sores (mean 87.4 ± 30.52 pg/ml) in the mean concentration of this cytokine.

There was no significant differences (P>0.01) among patients with single sore (mean 51.04 ± 15.0pg/ml) and multiple sores (mean 63.70± 20.32 pg/ml) in the mean concentration of IL-4.Finally this study revealed that: Th-2 predominates during the early stage of the disease then shifts to Th-1 that proceed in the late stage, but both cytokines increased in CL patients in comparison to control group.

This finding suggested that the immune response of CL infection is possibly regulated by both Th-1 and Th-2, and multiple sores´ patients showed an increase of IFN- γ (mean 87.4 ±30.52 pg/ml) and IL-4 (mean 63.70±20.32pg/ml) levels than single sore patients with mean value (47.2 ± 27.80pg/ml) and (51.04±15.0 pg/ml) respectively.

These results indicated that multiple sores patient's immune response is higher than the others with single sores.