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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, May 2004, p. 627-630, Vol. 11, No. 3
1071-412X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.11.3.627-630.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Gender-Related Cytokine Patterns in Sera of Schistosomiasis Patients with Symmers' Fibrosis

Laboratory of Immunology, Faculdade de Medicina do TriÂngulo Mineiro, Uberaba,¹ Departamento Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil²

Received 5 August 2003/ Returned for modification 30 September 2003/ Accepted 6 March 2004

Cytokine levels were compared between schistosomiasis patients affected by intense fibrosis defined by ultrasound examination and graded from F-0 to F-3. The concentrations of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, gamma interferon, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of serum samples. Levels of IL-4, IL-5, and TNF- in the sera of F-3 patients were significantly higher than those found in F-0 individuals, while levels of IL-13 were lower. Levels of IL-4, IL-5, and TNF- in serum were significantly higher in F-3 males than in F-0 males or F-3 females. Conversely, levels of IL-13 were significantly lower in F-3 females than in F-0 females and males.