CYTOKINES IN THE SERA OF PATIENTS WITH PEMPHIGUS-VULGARIS - INTERLEUKIN-6 AND TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA LEVELS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AS COMPARED TO HEALTHY-SUBJECTS AND CORRELATE WITH DISEASE-ACTIVITY

Cytokine serum levels, when detectable, are currently measured in many disease states, both to evaluate a possible pathogenetic involvement of such molecules and for clinical purposes, No data are currently ava ilable on the cytokine levels in the sera of patients with pemphigus v ulgaris (PV), a rare bullous disease of autoimmune origin. This study presents data concerning the levels of 13 different cytokines assayed in the sera of 25 patients affected with PV as compared with 20 health y subjects using high sensitivity ELISA kits. Of the 13 molecules anal yzed, no differences in the levels of most cytokines were observed bet ween pemphigus and control sera, with the exception of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Serum TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels were found to be significantly higher in PV patients than in normal controls (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the levels of the two cy tokines decreased after one month of corticosteroid therapy. A signifi cant correlation was found between the serum levels of both TNF-alpha and IL-6 and the number of lesions for each patient (p < 0.001). The d ata presented support an involvement of at least IL-6 and TNF-alpha in the biological modifications associated with PV manifestations.