The comparison of interleukin-17 and interleukin-10 with systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity

AIM: This study was conducted to compare means of interleukin-17 (IL-17) (Th17 cytokines) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) (T-regulatory cytokines) as pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine with disease activity of systemic upus erythematosus (SLE) and to investigate correlation between IL-17 cytokine serums with IL-10 in SLE patients. METHODS: This study recruited total of 68 SLE patients which included 34 active and 34 inactive patients based on MEX-SLEDAI as disease activity tool measurement and subjects were selected using consecutive sampling method. Blood samples were taken from subjects and IL-17 and IL-10 were measured using ELISA method. Data were analyzed with SPSS 26 software. RESULTS: Mean IL-17 was 19.67 ± 1.299 pg/ml in active SLE group and 19.78 ± 1.187 pg/ml in inactive group. Median of IL-10 in active group was 3.63 pg/ml and in inactive group was 2.52 pg/ml, respectively. No significant mean differences were found of IL-17 and IL-10 between active and inactive SLE patients (p > 0.005). We found significant positive correlation between IL-17 and IL-10 (p < 0.005; r = 0.529). CONCLUSION: There were no significant mean differences of IL-17 and IL-10 between active and inactive SLE patients. However, we found elevated result of IL-10 in active SLE than inactive. There was positive correlation between IL-17 and IL-10.