Investigation of serum IL-4, IL-12, IL,13, IL-27 and IL-33 levels in active and inactive ocular behçet's disease

Aim: To investigate interleukin (IL)-12 as a classical Th1 cytokine, IL-27 as an inhibitor of IL-17 and IL-4, IL-13, IL-33 as a Th2 cytokines levels in serum and relationship between their levels and the disease activity in Behçet's Disease (BD). Material-Method: 20 active ocular BD patients (group 1), 20 ocular BD patients in remission (group 2), 20 nonocular BD patients in remission (group 3) and 20 healthy control subjects (group 4) were enrolled between January 2014 and December 2014. Following a detailed history taking and required consultations 5cc venous blood is collected from every subject. IL levels were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Kruskal-Wallis test was used to test differences in the continuous variables between the groups. Categorical data were analyzed with the chi- square test. Spearman correlation was used to determine the strength of the relationship between the variables. Results: There was no difference among the groups by means of gender. Group A and D were significantly younger (p=0.02) than the other groups whereas there was no effect of age on the visual acuity or IL levels according to the covariance analysis. Visual acuity was worse in group A (p 0.001). All patients in group A and B were diagnosed as panuveitis and binocular involvement. Serum levels of IL-13 (p 0.001) and IL-33 (p=0.002) were higher in group A, whereas IL-4 (p=0.74) and IL-12 (p=0.96) were similar in all groups. IL-27 (p=0,047) was higher in group D. Additionally, there was significant positive correlation between the levels of IL-13 and IL-33 and the anterior chamber cell count and the flare levels. Discussion: According to our results IL-33 as a stimulatory signal for Th2 cytokines and a Th2 cytokine IL-13 was higher in active ocular BD patients supporting the idea claiming the dominance of Th2 cytokines in the pathogenesis of the BD. IL-27 having protective effect via inhibition of IL17 and induction of Tr1regulatory cells was lower in BH groups. On the other hand, a well-known Th1 cytokine IL-12 serum level was similar in all groups in contrast to several studies that may suggest some genetic differences in IL-12 in Turkish BD patients. Key words: Ocular Behçet's Disease, interleukins, disease activity.