Interleukin-17A in Legionella pneumonia: A retrospective study.

Interleukin-17A in Legionella pneumonia: A retrospective study. Jpn J Infect Dis. 2014 Dec 24; Authors: Higa F, Haroon A, Iha Y, Tasato D, Nakamura H, Kinjo T, Tamayose M, Furugen M, Miyagi K, Haranaga S, Tateyama M, Fujita J Abstract IL-17A is involved in the immune system of the lung. Legionella can potentially cause severe pneumonia. The present study was aimed to evaluate the role of IL-17A in Legionella pneumonia cases. IL-17A was quantified in sera from patients with Legionella pneumonia and control subjects. IL-17A was detected in sera from 4 out of 31 Legionella pneumonia cases; the cytokine was not detected in any control cases. There was no difference in peripheral white blood cell counts or other serum biomarkers (C-reactive protein, and lactate dehydrogenase) between IL-17A positive cases and IL-17A negative cases. The IL-17A positive cases all survived, while 8 out of 27 IL-17A negative cases did not survive in this cohort. IL-17A could be detected in broncho-alveolar (BA) fluids from available 7 samples of Legionella pneumonia cases within our cohort. Concentrations of IL-17A and IFN-γ in BA fluids were not associated with each other. IL-17A might have significant role in some cases of Legionella pneumonia. PMID: 25672354 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Jpn J Infect Dis Source Type: research