Study the role of interleukin-4 and interferon- in patients with penicillin allergy

Penicillin, the most well-known β-lactam antibiotic, is thought to cause allergic responses in 0.7-10% of the human population. Atopic and other allergy illnesses are believed to be developed and regulated in part by excessive secretion of Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). In this study, the frequency of penicillin allergy was analyzed by IL-4 and IFN-γ using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in 45 patients with an allergy to penicillin and 45 apparently healthy subjects as a control group. Also, we determined the IL-4 receptor α gene (IL-4 Rα) by using tetra primer-amplification refractory mutation system based polymerase chain reaction (T-ARMS-PCR). The findings demonstrated that IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in serum of the patients in the experimental group were significantly higher than in the control group. Although IFN-γ levels were lower than IL-4 in the patients and controls, patients exhibited higher IFN-γ concentrations compared to control subjects. The IL-4 receptor α (Rα) genotype distribution in patients and control groups revealed that genotypes AA, GA, and GG were present in 26 (57.78%), 11 (24.44%), and 8 (17.78%) patient subjects, while in the control group they were present in 17 (37.78%), 21 (46.67%), and 7 (15.56%) subjects. As a result, it seemed that patients had a higher frequency of genotype AA than the control group. In conclusion, penicillin allergy is influenced by IL-4 and IFN-γ, and IL-4 Rα gene polymorphism revealed that AA and GA genotypes may be linked to β-lactam allergy, whereas GG genotypes may offer a strong defense against β-lactam allergy.