Change of interleukin-23 level in mouse asthma model and its action mechanism

Objective To measure the change of serum interleukin-23(IL-23) level before and after treatment with glucocortcoid and analyze the correlations between levels of IL-23 and IL-4,IFN-γ,IL-17,and explore the role of IL-23 in bronchial asthma.Methods Thirty femal BALB/c mice were randomly divided into three group(n=10): group A(asthma model),group B(corticosteroid treatment) and group C(normal control).All mice were killed 24 h after final OVA challenge.The blood samples were obtained for measurements of serum IgE,IL4,IFN-γ,IL-17and IL-23 levels by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay(ELISA).Results The mouse asthma model appeared ethological changes specific to asthma.The level of OVA specific IgE in serum increased.The level of serum IL-4 increased and the level of IFN-γ decreased.Correlation analysis showed negative relationship between IL-4 and IFN-γ(r=-0.859,P0.01),there existed Th1/Th2 imbalance.The level of serum IL-23 in group A was higher than that in group C(P0.01).In mice treated with inhaled budesonide(group B),the level of serum IL-23 was lower than that in group A(P0.01).The concentration of IL-23 had no correlation with both IL-4 and IFN-γ.There was a positive correlation between the levels of serum IL-23 and IL-17(r=0.763,P0.01).Conclusion IL23 in serum might be involved in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma,and could be inhibited by inhaled glucocorticoid.IL-23 has no relationship with IFN-γ and IL-4.It suggested that IL-23 might contribute to the development of asthma indirectly by inducing IL-17 generation.