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IL-38 serum levels in patients with Behcet’s disease and the relationship with clinical features

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Abstract

Behcet’s disease (BD) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disorder. Various cytokines take part in the pathogenesis of this disease. Interleukin (IL)-38, a new member of IL-1 cytokine family, has been reported to have antiinflammatory properties; however, its role in BD has not been investigated yet. In this study, we aimed to examine the probable role of IL-38 in the clinical context of BD. A total of 81 patients with BD and 81 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects as controls were included in this study. The serum levels of IL-38 were measured in patients and controls sera using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relationship between the serum levels of IL-38 and clinical and laboratory characteristics of the patients were determined. IL-38 serum levels were significantly lower in patients in comparison with healthy controls at P = 0.003. We found significant differences between IL-38 levels in BD patients with positive and negative pathergy tests (P = 0.048) and patients with and without eye involvement (P = 0.046). Despite the absence of significant differences in serum levels between male and female patients, IL-38 levels were higher in female patients with a positive pathergy test (P = 0.048) and those patients with eye involvement (P = 0.046). As healthy controls showed higher IL-38 serum levels than patients, a protective anti-inflammatory role of IL-38 in BD is suggested. Together, these results suggest that the positive relationship between IL-38 serum levels and eye involvement that IL-38 may play a role in this clinical feature of the disease.

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Acknowledgement

Research reported in this publication was supported by Elite Researcher Grant Committee under award number [971223] from the National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD), Tehran, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Autoimmune Diseases Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Maryam Zarrabi, Nasser Gholijani & Zahra Amirghofran

  2. Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Saeedeh Shenavandeh & Elham Aflaki

  3. Immunology Department, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, 71348-45794, Shiraz, Iran

    Zahra Amirghofran

Authors
  1. Maryam Zarrabi
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  2. Nasser Gholijani
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  3. Saeedeh Shenavandeh
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  4. Elham Aflaki
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  5. Zahra Amirghofran
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zahra Amirghofran.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Zarrabi, M., Gholijani, N., Shenavandeh, S. et al. IL-38 serum levels in patients with Behcet’s disease and the relationship with clinical features. Eur Cytokine Netw 30, 82–87 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2019.0430

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