Abstract: Objective To study the roles of interleukin-18 (IL-18) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in the pathogenesis of infection with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in patients with genital herpes. Methods Double-sandwich ELISA was used to detect the levels of IL-18 and IFN-γ in PBMCs and sera of 43 patients with genital herpes who were confirmed to be infected with HSV-2, and healthy volunteers as control group. Results IL-18 levels in the sera and PBMCs in the patients with genital HSV-2 infection were (424.32±51.60)ng/L and (417.54±47.23)ng/L, respectively, and were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). IFN-γ levels in the sera and PBMCs in HSV-2 infected patients were (384.84±72.45)ng/L and (381.62±70.45)ng/L, respectively, and significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). A positive correlation between IL-18 and IFN-γ levels was found in the patients (r=0.515, P<0.05). IFN-γ could be induced by rhIL-18. Conclusion An increased level of IL-18 is found in the patients with genital HSV-2 infection and also correlated with increased level of IFN-γ. The rhIL-18 can stimulate PBMC in HSV-2 infected patients to produce IFN-γ, and IL-18 has a significant role against HSV-2 infection, which may be related to the production of IFN-γ.

Key words: Herpes virus 2, human, Interleukin-18, Interferon type Ⅱ, Herpes genitalis