Relationship between serum IL-17 and IL-23 levels and clinical course in patients diagnosis of crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever

INTRODUCTION: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral disease with high mortality that can progress with fever and hemorrhage. The pathogenesis of the disease has not yet been fully elucidated. Interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-23 are cytokines that play a role in host defense, especially against bacterial and viral infections.It is reported in the literature that IL-17 and IL-23 function on the same immunological pathway and that when evaluated together, the inflammatory process can be understood more holistically (1, 2). This study aimed to evaluate the role of these cytokines in disease pathogenesis by comparatively analyzing IL-17 and IL-23 levels in CCHF patients. MATERIAL and METHOD: Atotal of 80 patients followed up with the diagnosis of CCHF and 50 healthy individuals as a control group were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups as mild-moderate and severe according to clinical poor prognosis criteria and severity scoring defined by Swanepoel et al. Serum IL-17 and IL-23 levels were measured with Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and the obtained data were evaluated with statistical methods. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was shown between the patient and healthy control groups of serum IL-17 and IL-23 levels(p<0,001). IL-17 and IL-23 levels were found to be higher in CCHF patients than in the healthy control group. In terms of disease severity, it was higher in the severe patient group than in the mild-moderate patients. When the correlation between IL-17 and IL-23 and laboratory parameters were evaluated, it was determined that they showed a positive correlation with ALT and AST. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that IL-17 and IL-23 play an important role in the pathogenesis and prognosis of CCHF. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the roles of these cytokines in CCHF disease. KEYWORDS: CrimeanCongo hemorrhagic fever, IL-17, IL-23