IL-8 mRNA and Serum Levels in Vitiligo Patients: A Case Control Study

Introduction: Many theories are suggested to explain aetiology of vitiligo, such as autoimmune, genetic and biochemical. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a pro-inflammatory chemokine which is evaluated in the pathogenesis of some skin diseases, like psoriasis, however, in vitiligo, few studies were reported regarding this issue. Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate serum level of IL-8 and IL-8 mRNA in patients with different types of vitiligo to validate its role in aetiopathogenesis of vitiligo. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 39 vitiligo patients and 15 age and gender matched healthy controls. The participants were selected from Dermatology Outpatient Clinic, Menoufia University Hospitals from October, 2014 to October, 2015. They were subjected to clinical history, examination and full general examination. Detailed dermatological examination including VASI score was applied. IL-8 serum level was measured by ELISA and IL-8 mRNA was quantitated by Real Time-PCR. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS, version 20.0. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare two quantitative not normally distributed. Chi-square test (chi(2)) was used to study association between two qualitative variables. Spearman correlation test was applied to assess correlation between two continuous quantitative variables. A p=0.05 was considered significant. Results: IL-8 serum level and mRNA concentration mean values were significantly elevated in vitiligo patients (26.25 +/- 43.28 pg/mL and 8.48 +/- 11.92 ng/mL) than controls (0.57 +/- 0.50 pg/mL and 0.60 +/- 0.32 ng/mL) (p=0.002, for both), and they showed significant positive correlation with each other (r=0.622; p=0.001). Moreover, both of them revealed significant high values in localized vitiligo (62.20 +/- 74.39 pg/mL and 12.42 +/- 13.85 ng/mL) than generalized (18.39 +/- 29.49 pg/mL and 7.61 +/- 11.52 ng/mL) (p=0.000 and p=0.004), respectively. Conclusion: Serum IL-8 chemokine and its mRNA increased significantly in vitiligo patients indicating that it may have a dynamic role in vitiligo development and participate in its pathogenesis.