Background: Until recently, it remains unknown whether thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) is a type of systemic vasculitis. A high level of IL-33 and its soluble decoy receptor sST2 in the acute phase of systemic vasculitis has been demonstrated.
Methods: The serum level of IL-33 and sST2 in 50 TAO patients, 20 age- and smoking habit-matched controls and 19 age-matched non-smoker controls was evaluated.
Results: The mean level of IL-33 in TAO, smokers and non-smokers was 370.2± 61.7ng/mL,132.14± 2.6ng/mL and 11.3± 0.38ng/mL, respectively. The IL-33 was significantly higher in the TAO than in either control groups (p < 0.001). The IL-33 in the acute phase of TAO was significantly higher than in the patients in the quiescent phase of the disease (p = 0.019). Also, IL-33 in the patients with gangrene was significantly higher than in the patients with non-healing ulcers (p = 0.021). The sST2 in the TAO patients was 49.3± 5.58ng/mL, and in smoker and non-smoker controls, it was 45.3± 6.3ng/mL and 4.11± 0.17ng/mL, respectively. No significant difference was found between the patients and smoker control groups (p = 0.87). The mean ratio of IL-33/sST2 was 27.89± 10.44 in the TAO group and, in smokers and non-smokers, it was 2.85± 0.48 and 2.84± 0.14, respectively. A significantly high level of IL-33/sST2 ratio was observed in TAO patients in both the active and quiescent phases of the disease in comparison to both control groups (p< 0.001).
Conclusion: The regulation pattern of IL-33/sST2 was different in TAO in comparison to autoimmune vasculitis.



中文翻译：

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血栓闭塞性脉管炎中的 IL-33/sST2 轴。

背景：直到最近，血栓闭塞性脉管炎 (TAO) 是否是一种系统性血管炎仍然未知。已经证实在系统性血管炎的急性期有高水平的 IL-33 及其可溶性诱饵受体 sST2。
方法：评估了 50 名 TAO 患者、20 名年龄和吸烟习惯匹配的对照和 19 名年龄匹配的非吸烟对照的血清 IL-33 和 sST2 水平。
结果： TAO、吸烟者和非吸烟者的IL-33平均水平分别为370.2±61.7ng/mL、132.14±2.6ng/mL和11.3±0.38ng/mL。TAO 中的 IL-33 显着高于任一对照组 (p < 0.001)。TAO急性期IL-33明显高于疾病静止期患者（p= 0.019)。此外，坏疽患者的 IL-33 显着高于未愈合溃疡患者（p = 0.021）。TAO 患者的 sST2 为 49.3± 5.58 ng/mL，吸烟者和非吸烟者对照组分别为 45.3± 6.3 ng/mL 和 4.11± 0.17 ng/mL。患者和吸烟者对照组之间没有发现显着差异（p = 0.87）。TAO 组的 IL-33/sST2 平均比值为 27.89±10.44，吸烟者和非吸烟者分别为 2.85±0.48 和 2.84±0.14。与两个对照组相比，在疾病活动期和静止期的 TAO 患者中观察到显着高水平的 IL-33/sST2 比率（p<0.001）。
结论：与自身免疫性血管炎相比，TAO 中 IL-33/sST2 的调节模式不同。