The role of Interleukin-10 and 13 in tuberculosis-associated pulmonary dysfunction

Pulmonary dysfunctions are frequently encountered after tuberculosis treatment in clinical practice. In the present study, the role of interleukin-10 and 13 in a tuberculosis-associated pulmonary dysfunction was investigated.

This is a semi-experimental study on 40 patients selected from referral tuberculosis care center in Birjand, Iran, during 2015-2017. The cases with major medical disorders including those with underlying lung disease were excluded from the study. Informed consent was prepared from each patient, and then blood sample was obtained, serum was extracted and refrigerated at -70 C° at the start (time 1), 2 months (time 2) and 6 months (time 3) after onset of treatment for tuberculosis. Spirometry was also performed at time 2. Finally, 24 patients completed the study.

Of the 24 patients with the mean age of 60.87±21.50 years in the study, 9 (37%) were males and 15 (62.5%) were females. Abnormal spirometry was observed in 20 (83.3%) subjects at time 2, of whom 12 (60%) were restrictive and 8 (40%) obstructive. The mean changes of interleukin 10 from the start to end of the treatment were 89.00±89.47 (P=1.00), -29.36±40.21 (P=0.02) and 3.70±29.98 (P=0.1) in patients with normal, obstructive and restrictive spirometery, respectively (normal vs obstructive and restrictive; p<0.01). While in interleukin 10, changes for interleukin-13 were 77.90±145.97, 6.35±133.10 and -13.35±46.66 (P=0.4), respectively.

Upregulation of IL-10 during tuberculosis treatment might be considered as a protective factor against lung dysfunction. In patients with obstructive form, there was a marked decrease in interleukin-10.