TNF-A AS AN INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE CAN NOT AFFECT PULMONARY FUNCTION IN ASTHMA PATIENTS

The prevalence of asthma and other respiratory diseases has grown in the recent decades. In this study, we aimed to assess the relation between serum TNF-α as a inflammatory cytokine with some spirometry makers as respiratory function in a group of males with asthma. For this purpose twenty seven adult men with mild to moderate asthma were participated in this study by accessible sampling. Fasting serum TNFα were measured and pulmonary function test (spirometry) was performed in order to measuring forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC in each subject. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the correlations between -α concentration and all spirometry markers. P<0.05 was considered significant. No significant correlation was found in serum TNF-α with FEV1 (p=0.87, r=0.032), FVC (p=0.61, r=0.10) and FEV1/FVC (p=0.35, r=0.19) in studied subjects. In conclusion, our findings indicate that TNF-α as an inflammatory cytokine can not affect pulmonary function in asthma patients directly. Future studies will be needed to address the relative importance of inflammatory cytokines in airway inflammation.