Evaluation of serum interleukin-8 as a marker of disease activity in acuteasthma in children

Cytokine-mediated interactions among the inflammatory cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a major c ytokine in the recruitment of neutrophils to the area of inflammation. Seru m IL-8 is a marker of disease activity and treatment efficacy in bronchial asthma. To understand the role of IL-8 in disease activity in acute asthma, changes in serum concentrations of IL-8 elaborated by activated eosinophil before and after prednisolone therapy with clinical improvement were deter mined in the present study. Circulating levels of IL-8 in 15 normal control subjects and in sera from 20 allergic asthmatic children with acute exacer bation and in stable condition were determined by using commercially availa ble assay kits. The mean concentration of serum IL-8 was statistically sign ificantly higher in asthmatic children with acute exacerbation (63.62 +/- 1 1.41 pg/mL) and in stable asthmatics (64.22 +/- 10.31 pg/mL) compared to th e control group subjects (50.40 +/- 30.70 pg/mL; p < 0.01). However, the di fference was not statistically significant between the acute exacerbation a nd stable asthmatics groups (p > 0.05). Serum IL-8 is a poor indicator of d isease activity in acute asthma; therefore, monitoring by serum IL-8 concen tration is of limited value. The clinical value of serum IL-8 as a marker o f disease activity remains to be established.