Cytokines and soluble intracellular adhesion molecule 1 in the sera of Saudi eczematous children

We report five children with atopic eczema. The level of soluble adhesion molecules is known to correlate with disease severity. On the assumption that atopic eczema is a T-lymphocyte-mediated inflammatory disease, in this study, we aimed to determine the presence of soluble intracellular adhesion molecule (sICAM) 1 and the release of inflammatory cytokines. The patient sera were used to measure sICAM-1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the concentration of interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5 in whole blood culture supernatant was determined by a flow cytometry microsphere-based assay. sICAM-1 was dramatically higher in these patients than healthy controls. In addition, the results showed an increase in IL-4 and IL-5 concentration compared with control subjects. In conclusion, these results showed that sICAM-1 expression is important in inflammation of epithelial cells and can be used as a useful parameter in monitoring the disease activity. The study suggests that T-helper cell subset plays an important role in initiating eczematous disease and that additional studies are needed to explore such a role.