Comparing IL-5, IL-10, IL-12, and IL-18 Cytokines Levels Secreted From the PBMCs of Patients with Healing and Nonhealing Skin Leishmaniasis

Introduction & Leishmaniasis is a major worldwide health problem throughout the world and in Iran as well. Skin lesions are mostly healing but nonhealing cases have also increased recently. T-helper type1 (Th1) responses induction helps the patients to resist against the disease while T-helper type2 (Th2) responses cause susceptibility to disease. With the assessment of IL-5, IL-10, IL-12, and IL-18 cytokines secreted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in leishmaniasis healing and nonhealing patients, their role in curing leishmaniasis was surveyed. Cytokines secreted from PBMCs of 60 healing and nonhealing patients and also control group referred to Ab-o-Bargh number1 clinic and Mashhad Qaem hospital during 2007 were evaluated Elisa commercial kits after stimulation by leishmania antigen and mitogen in vitro. Healing patients PBMCs secreted IL-12 (236.55±38.00 pg/ml) more than non healing patients (p<0.05) while in nonhealing patients IL-5 (52.14±65.21 pg/ml) and IL-10 (30.19±18.73 pg/ml) secreted more than healing patients (p<0.005). Also IL-18 secreted significantly higher in nonhealing patients compared with healing patients (p=0.003). According to the results It can be concluded that IL-12 is secreted more in healing patients than nonhealing patients but IL-18, which causes the increase of IL-12 secretion and the activation of Th1 cells during IL-12 secretion decrease, secrets more in nonhealing patients, induces Th2 responses and results in disease progression.