STUDY OF SERUM INTERLEUKIN 17 LEVEL IN CHILDREN WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA.

Background: Asthma is an inflammatory disease and is considered the most common chronic disease affecting children. In asthmatic airways, IL-17 serum level correlates with the incidence of airway hyper-responsiveness and the severity of the disease. Aim of this study was to find if there is significant increase in IL-17 serum level in asthmatic children and to study the correlation between the expression of IL-17 and that of total IgE in order to evaluate its role as a diagnostic tool. Methods: Fifty children with bronchial asthma recruited from the Chest and Allergy clinic at pediatric department of Banha University Hospital from January first 2015 to 30 June 2015 and thirty-five apparently healthy controls were chosen for this study. ELISA tests were done for detection of serum level of IL-17 and IgE for all subjects. Results: There is significant difference between asthmatic and control groups as regard to total IgE serum level (p=0.002) and IL-17 serum level (p<0.001). There is insignificant positive correlation between IL-17 and IgE (P=0.15). The best cutoff values of IL-17 > 5.39 (considered to be the level of asthma) with sensitivity 74% and specificity 80% Conclusion: There is significant difference in serum levels of IL-17 and total IgE between asthmatic and control groups in children.