Correlative analysis between serum levels of interleukin-18, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-8 and pulmonary function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum levels of interleukin-18 (IL-18),tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α),interleukin-8 ( IL-8 ) and pulmonary function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to evaluate their roles in the pathogenesis of COPD.Methods The serum IL-18,TNF-α and IL-8 levels of 36 COPD patients with acute exacerbation and 15 healthy people ( control ) were determined by using double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results Serum levels of IL-18,TNF-α and IL-8 in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD before treatment and after were treatment significantly higher than those in control group ( P ＜0.05).The serum IL-18,TNF-α and IL-8 levels of COPD group before the treatment were significantly higher than those after the treatment.Serum level of IL-18,TNF-α and L-8 revealed notably negative correlated with the corresponding period pulmonary function.Conclusions Overproduction of IL-18,TNF-α and IL-8 are involved in the process of inflammatory reaction of COPD.The damage of lung function in COPD patients is associated with the increase of serum cytokine level. Key words: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Interleukin-18; Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Interleukin-8;  Lung function