Cytokine Profiles in Acute Brucellosis, Compared with Those in Other Febrile Illnesses

It seems that activation of the T helper 1 (Th 1) cell response, including production of Interleukin-12 (IL-12) and Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), leads to the resolution of disease and the dominance of Th 2 cells, and related cytokines like IL-4 may reduce the process of Brucella eradication.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of serum cytokines, IL-12, INF-γ, Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α), and IL-4 in acute brucellosis and compare them with those in other febrile diseases.
This prospective cross-sectional study was done on 80 consecutive patients in Azerbaijan, Iran. The research defined 2 groups in the survey; (group 1) one group with brucellosis and the other group (group 2) without brucellosis; each consisting of 40 patients. All the patients had constitutional symptoms of fever, malaise, and anorexia. Serum agglutination and 2 ME (2 mercaptoethanol) tests were performed on the sera. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 16 software.
Serum TNF-α (group-1: 210.38 ± 168.35 and group-2: 19.53 ± 16.36), INF-γ (group-1: 64.72 ± 19.73 and group-2: 12.18 ± 5.37) and IL-12 (group-1: 283.10 ± 253.51 and group-2: 20.87 ± 12.58) levels were elevated significantly in brucellosis patients compared to the levels in other febrile patients (P value ≤ 0.001). The IL-4 level showed no significant difference between brucellosis and other febrile patient’s sera (P value = 0.870).
The current study showed that serum levels of Th 1 cytokines, including INF-γ and IL-12 levels are elevated significantly in systemic brucellosis patients. However, IL-4 levels, a Th 2 cytokine, had no significant difference between the 2 groups.