Emel Kurt, Kurtuluş Aksu, Ali Dokumacioglu, Ozkan Alatas
Departments of Allergy, Faculty of Medicine, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey. dremelkurt@yahoo.com
Cytokine 2012 OctThe mechanism of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is not certain in seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) patients. We aimed to investigate the effects of natural pollen exposure on IL-18 and its relationship with BHR. Thirty-two SAR patients with grass pollen sensitivity, 14 nonallergic rhinitis (NAR) patients and 17 normal-controls were included. Sixteen SAR patients had BHR during pollen season and off-season. Serum IL-18 levels were measured in SAR patients during pollen season between May-August and off-season between November-February. IL-18 levels were measured in NAR patients and normal controls once. During pollen season, SAR patients with BHR had significantly increased levels of IL-18 than those without BHR (279.2 ± 161.1 versus 145.3 ± 101.0 pg/ml, p=0.012). Serum IL-18 levels were not different between SAR patients with and without BHR during off-season (233.8 ± 139.7 versus 183.2 ± 162.9 pg/ml, p=0.16). Serum IL-18 levels in SAR patients during pollen season (212.3 ± 148.8 pg/ml) and off-season (208.5 ± 151.5 pg/ml) were not different than those NAR patients (224.8 ± 180.1 pg/ml, p=0.98 and p=1.0, respectively) and normal controls (174.8 ± 76.0 pg/ml, p=0.60 and p=0.76, respectively). The results suggested us that BHR in SAR patients is associated with increased IL-18 during natural pollen exposure. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Emel Kurt, Kurtuluş Aksu, Ali Dokumacioglu, Ozkan Alatas. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness in seasonal allergic rhinitis patients is associated with increased IL-18 during natural pollen exposure. Cytokine. 2012 Oct;60(1):100-3
PMID: 22819246
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