Abstract:

Zang Dandan, Zhang Jiaxiang, Ye Liangping, Yang Peng, Huang Jian, Zhu Qixing Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China （Zang DD, Zhang JX, Yang P, Huang J）; Institute of Dermatology, First Affiliated Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China （Ye LP, Zhu QX） Corresponding author: Zhu Qixing, Email: zqxing@yeah.net 【Abstract】 Objective To investigate changes in serum levels of Th22 cell-related cytokines and complements in patients with drug eruption before and after treatment, and to explore their possible roles in the occurrence and development of drug eruption. Methods This study included 35 patients with drug eruption, and 35 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. Five milliliters of peripheral blood samples were collected from the controls and patients before and after treatment. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was performed to measure serum levels of interleukin 22 （IL-22） and IL-13, and the cytometric bead array （CBA） system was used to determine serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） and complement components C3a, C4a and C5a. Results Before treatment, the patients with drug eruption showed significantly higher serum levels of IL-22 （40.85 ± 14.56 vs. 29.09 ± 8.66 ng/L, t = 5.549, P < 0.05）, IL-13 （869.94 ± 463.39 vs. 372.92 ± 151.75 ng/L, t = 6.071, P < 0.05）, TNF-α （1.03 ± 0.64 vs. 0.44 ± 0.31 ng/L, t = 4.321, P < 0.05）, complement C3a （55.21 ± 32.98 vs. 42.44 ± 14.26 ng/L, t = 2.832, P < 0.05）, C4a （285.11 ± 123.91 vs. 237.00 ± 63.57 ng/L, t = 2.257, P < 0.05）, and C5a （279.68 ± 127.72 vs. 215.98 ± 65.38 ng/L, t = 2.495, P < 0.05） compared with the controls. After treatment, the serum levels of IL-22, IL-13, TNF-α, complement C3a, C4a and C5a in patients decreased to （32.72 ± 11.77） ng/L, （456.21 ± 123.22） ng/L, （0.64 ± 0.39） ng/L, （45.47 ± 21.11） ng/L, （241.86 ± 84.12） ng/L and （239.61 ± 103.51） ng/L respectively, with a significant difference between the pretreatment and posttreatment values of these proteins （t = 4.443, 5.197, 3.572, 3.213, 2.728 and 4.772, respectively, all P ≤ 0.01）. Additionally, the serum levels of IL-22 and IL-13 were still significantly higher in the patients than in the controls （both P < 0.05）, while there were no significant differences in the serum levels of TNF-α, complement C3a, C4a or C5a between the patients and controls after treatment （all P > 0.05）. Correlation analysis showed positive correlations between complement C3a and C4a serum levels （r = 0.660, P < 0.05）, between C3a and C5a serum levels （r = 0.404, P < 0.05）, between C4a and C5a serum levels （r = 0.501, P < 0.05）, and between IL-22 and TNF-α serum levels （r = 0.573, P = 0.005）, but negative correlations between IL-22 and complement C3a serum levels （r = -0.490, P = 0.005）, in patients before treatment. Conclusion The activation of Th22 cell-related cytokines and complements may play important roles in the occurrence and development of drug eruption, and IL-22 may participate in the regulation of complements.