Chang of interleukin-4,interleukin-12 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and the serum of the patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and their clinical significance

ObjectiveTo detect the levels of interleckin-4(IL-4),IL-12 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF) and the serum of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF) and to investigate the significance of their change in the pathogenesis of IPF.Methods Enzyme-linked immunoadsordent assay(ELISA) were used to detect the levels of IL-4,IL-12 in the BALF and the serum of patients with IPF and 9 subjects with non-interstitial lung diseases(non-smoker).ResultsIn the BALF of patients with IPF,the levels of IL-4(84.87±26.10) pg/ ml were higher than that of the control group(P0.01),and the level of IL-12(12.33±6.89) pg/ ml was lower than that of the control group.In the patients with IPF,the change of IL-4 in the serum was consistent with the change in the BALF.But the levels of IL-12(45.70±25.65) pg/ml showed no significant difference between the patients with IPF and the control group.ConclusionDecrease of cytokine IL-12 is local pulmonary reaction,but the increase of IL-4 is systemic.The proportional disequilibrium of Th1 and Th2 cytokine play important role in the process of IPF.