Procalcitonin and Inflammatory Cytokines in Children with Asthma

Abstract

Asthma is currently defined as a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airway mucosa. The resulting inflammation of the airway mucosa shows signs of an acute as well as a more chronic type of inflammation. Cytokine-mediated interactions among the inflammatory cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. The aim of this study is to assess inflammatory agents as markers of chronic inflammation in childhood asthma and as indicators for determining the state of the disease. This study included 3 groups of children. Group A consisted of 35 children with asthma and FEV1<80% of predicted values, 24 boys, 11 girls, aged (mean age ± SE) 9.3 ± 0.4 years, Group B of 70 children with asthma and FEV1≥80% of predicted values, 44 boys, 26 girls, aged 8.65 ± 0.36 years and Group C of 48 healthy children, 33 boys, 15 girls, aged 10.73 ± 0.4 years. In serum, levels of PCT were determined by immunoluminescence, CRP by nephelometry and cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-4 and IL-5 by ELISA. Our results show that the mean concentration of CRP and PCT were not significantly different between groups A, B and C. The mean values of IL-1β were significantly different between groups A, B and C. The mean values of IL-6 were higher in group A than those of Groups B and C, although the difference between the groups was not statistically significant. The mean values of Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-5 were significantly different between groups A, B and C. In conclusion, CRP and PCT levels did not play any role in airway allergic inflammation, while strong indications were found that sera levels of inflammatory cytokines associated mainly with Th2 responses play a key role in airway allergic inflammation.

Procalcitonin as an early marker of bacterial infection in neutropenic febrile children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

“…PCT is presumably synthesized in tissues other than thyroid C-cells, which are the source of calcitonin in normal physiology [16]. According to recent studies the major source of PCT seemed to be the liver and different cells, and PCT may thus be considered as an acute-phase protein [17]. Serum levels are very low in healthy individuals (\0.5 ng/ml) and in severe infections can reach up to 1,000 ng/ml without changes in serum calcitonin levels [18].…”

Serial procalcitonin responses in infection of children with secondary immunodeficiency

“…Anti-inflammatory cytokines while potentially beneficial, may in certain situations impair the host's inflammatory response. 30,31 Several factors, including the variability in microbial species and age of a patient, may influence the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines differently [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] , which may result in different serum PCT levels.…”

“…34 Fever was defined as an axillary temperature of >38.0 ° C over a 6-h observation period or >38.5 ° C once. 35 According to the classification of the International Immunocompromised Host Society (ICHS) 30 , febrile episodes in neutropenic cancer patients are (a) microbiologically documented infection, (b) clinically documented infection and fever of unknown origin (FUO). The site of infection for group A is shown in Table 1.…”

“…Procalcitonin (PCT) is significantly elevated in the serum of immunocompromised patients with bacterial infections, such as pneumonia and sepsis, but remains low in viral infections and inflammatory diseases. [30][31] This change in concentration is rapid and the molecule is stable and easy to determine, making it a potentially useful marker. The reason for increased PCT secretion in patients with severe infections has remained unknown.…”

Συγκριτική Μελέτη Της Έκφρασης Των Φλεγμονωδών Κυτταροκινών Στον Ορό Στο Κυτταρόπλασμα Και Σε Επίπεδο Αγγελιοφόρου RNA Σε Παιδιά Με Ατοπία

“…Επίσης σε μελέτες στις οποίες χρησιμοποιήθηκε η μέθοδος ELISA για τον προσδιορισμό των επιπέδων της IL-4 στον ορό παιδιών με ατοπικό άσθμα, βρέθηκαν σημαντικά υψηλότερα επίπεδά της ,σε σύγκριση με τα υγιή παιδιά (158,159,160,161).…”