Status of cathelicidin IL-37, cytokine TNF, and vitamin D in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

This study aims to evaluate the serum concentrations of LL-37 in individuals with active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and to determine whether any correlations between peptide LL-37, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and vitamin D serum levels exist. A total of 46 adults with pulmonary TB were recruited for the study. Sixty-one controls were randomly selected as control group. Serum concentrations of cathelicidin LL-37, vitamin D (25(OH)D), as well as TNF, were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. The mean (± SEM) level of LL-37 was significantly higher in the TB group (7.45±1.58) compared with healthy controls (1.41±0.22) (p less than 0.001). Mean serum concentration of TNF was significantly higher in the TB group (8.51±1.92) compared with healthy controls (2.69±0.19) (p less than 0.001). There was no significant difference in mean serum levels of vitamin D between healthy (26.10±1.74) and TB subjects (24.18±1.95). No correlations between LL-37, TNF, and vitamin D levels in patients with TB were observed. Our results indicated that serum levels of peptide LL-37 during TB is raised significantly, and this observation is compatible with the general view of the important role of this cathelicidin in defense mechanisms against Mtb infection. PMID: 29685013 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents - Category: Biomedical Science Tags: J Biol Regul Homeost Agents Source Type: research