Influence of prednisone on serum level of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interferon gamma and interleukin-1 beta, in active pulmonary tuberculosis

Abstract

Aim. The aim of the study was a potential impact of prednisone on the early immune response in HIV-negative young adults with active pulmonary tuberculosis, during the first four weeks of treatment.Material and methods. The study included 38 adults, aged 18-39 years, with active pulmonary tuberculosis. The first group of patients received only anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy whereas the second group of patients was administered antituberculosis chemotherapy and 20 mg prednisone, once daily. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma and interleukin 1-beta were measured using ELISA kits before treatment initiation as well after two and four weeks of treatment, in both study groups.Results. The highest serum levels of evaluated cytokines were observed before treatment initiation. Serum levels of cytokines were significantly decreased in patients who received anti-tuberculosis drugs and prednisone, compare to those not treated with prednisone (p<0.001), in all study periods.Conclusions. Adjunctive therapy, like 20 mg prednisone daily, remarkably inhibited the secretion of inflammatory cytokines during the early stage of active pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-negative young adults, which is likely to be beneficial for this group of patients.

Assessment of the Effect of Selenium Supplementation on Production of Selected Cytokines in Women with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

“…six-months selenium supplementation had a significant effect on reducing the level of INF-γ in contrast to TNF-α (Table 1, Figure 2). In comparison with the results of other authors' studies conducted in groups of healthy subjects, the results of our study were lower [22,23], higher [24], or similar [23] (Table 1). However, the presence of differences in the methodology of the cited studies (e.g., gender of participants, different immunoenzymatic kits used for cytokine determinations) should be noted, which could also affect the final results.…”

“…(pg/mL) 6.25 ± 4.98 4.47 ± 2.02 p = 0.04 (7.0 ± 3.9) a -(15.0 ± 4.0) a[22,23] TNF-α (pg/mL) 10.66(2.83; 40.24) # 9.69 (2.99; 31.33) # p > 0.05 (1.25 ± 2.20) a -(12.0 ± 4.0) a [23,24] CXCL10 (pg/mL) 179.7 ± 104.0 191.8 ± 153.8 p > 0.05 (25.9 (7.9-95.9)) b -(88.83 ± 28.68) a [25,26] IL-4 (pg/mL) 1.11 ± 1.07 1.07 ± 0.97 p > 0.05 (0.55 ± 0.24) a [27] IL-1β (pg/mL) 8.39 ± 6.62 11.46 (5.12; 25.62) # p = 0.01 (1.48 ± 0.70) * ,a -(3.60 ± 0.20) a [28,29] IL-17 (pg/mL) 11.31 (3.60; 35.54) # 8.00 (2.35; 27.23) # p > 0.05 (1.8 (1.2-2.3)) b -(4.04 (4.17)) c [9,30] TGF-β (ng/mL) 7.33 ± 2.60 7.12 ± 2.08 p > 0.05 (16.31 ± 3.21) a [31] CRP (mg/L) 0.23 (0.03; 1.87) # 0.21 (0.03; 1.53) # p > 0.05 (0.15 ± 0.13) a -(2.6 ± 4.0) a [32,33] # mean and the confidence interval obtained after converting data to logarithms. ˆranges of values for groups of healthy people reported by other authors.…”