Serum IL-33 Is Elevated in Children with Asthma and Is Associated with Disease Severity

Background: The role of IL-33, a member of the IL-1 family, in airway hyperresponsiveness and asthma has still to be fully understood. Objectives: This study is aimed at investigating serum IL-33 in children with asthma and its association with asthma severity. Methods: This age- and sex-matched case-control study comprised 61 children with asthma and 63 healthy controls. The mean age of the participants was 9.21 years (range: 6-14). Serum IL-33 was measured using ELISA and was compared between children with asthma and controls. In addition, the association of serum IL-33 with asthma severity was investigated. Results: The level of serum IL-33 was significantly higher in children with asthma than in controls (15.17 ± 32.3 vs. 0.61 ± 2.16 pg/ml; p = 0.028). It was significantly increased proportionately to asthma severity, namely 9.92 ± 30.26 pg/ml in children with mild asthma, 13.68 ± 29.27 pg/ml in children with moderate asthma and 31.92 ± 41.45 pg/ml in children with severe asthma (p = 0.026). Conclusion: Serum IL-33 is increased in children with asthma and is associated with disease severity. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel

IL9 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism and Serum Levels of Interleukin 9 in Children with Asthma

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the lower airway and the most common chronic disease in childhood. Interleukin 9 (IL-9), as a proinflammatory cytokine, has major effects on both proliferation and function of the immune cells, whereas its gene is located on 5q31-q32 which is consistent with the previously identified susceptibility loci for asthma. This study was performed to analyze the association between rs2069882, an intronic gene variant in the IL9 gene, and IL-9 serum levels and susceptibility to pediatric asthma. Sixty-one children with asthma and 63 healthy pediatric controls participated in this study. We determined allele frequencies of rs2069882 in IL9 gene, using real-time polymerase chain reaction assay, while serum levels of IL-9 were measured in 45 asthmatic patients and 45 healthy subjects, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. There was no significant association between different alleles of rs2069882 and susceptibility to asthma and its severity. Serum levels of IL-9 were significantly higher in patients group. Patients with TT and TC genotypes in rs2069882 had significantly higher levels of IL-9. In addition, patients with severe asthma had significantly higher serum IL-9 levels. Although there was not any significant association between different alleles of rs2069882 and susceptibility to asthma, this study showed that genotypes in this single nucleotide polymorphism can influence the serum levels of IL-9 in asthmatic patients, which in turn can influence its severity. © Copyright 2016, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 2016