[Time course of changes in serum cytokine levels and the erysipelas clinical pattern]

The time course of changes in the values of proinflammatory tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and IL-8 and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 has been studied in 78 patients with erysipelas of different frequencies and pathomorphological forms of the disease. In erysipelas and its erythematous form, there is an increase in the levels of TNF-alpha and IL-8 in early phase of the disease, a decrease in these indices during convalescence, and a rise in the content of the cytokine IL-4, which are typical of an acute cyclic infectious process with a good outcome. In recurrent erysipelas and its most severe bullous-hemorrhagic form, there is imbalance in the production of cytokines that are suggestive of that there might be a disease recurrence. In erysipelas patients with a TNF-alpha value of 2.5 pg/ml or less at the onset of the disease, the relative risk for prolonged signs of systemic and local inflammatory reactions increases as compared with those who have a TNF-alpha level of more than 2.5 pg/ml.