Open Access

ARTICLE

Altered serum pro-inflammatory cytokines in children with Down’s syndrome

Mahmoud Nateghi Rostami¹, Masoumeh Douraghi², Akram Miramin Mohammadi³, Bahram Nikmanesh⁴

1 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Ruhollah Sq., 14739-79966, Qom, Iran
2 Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Center for Research and Training in Skin Diseases and Leprosy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P. O. Box 14155-6383, Tehran, Iran
4 Department of Pathology, Children’s Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P. O. Box 14155-6446, Tehran, Iran

* Corresponding Author: M. Douraghi,

European Cytokine Network 2012, 23(2), 64-67. https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2012.0307

Accepted 30 May 2012;

Abstract

There are reports showing that pro-inflammatory cytokines are dysregulated in patients with Down’s syndrome (DS). However, most of these reports concern adults. We analyzed cytokine levels in serum samples from children with DS, and compared them with samples from intellectually disabled (ID), and healthy, control children.Blood samples were collected from 24 DS, 24 age-/sex-matched ID, and 24 age-/sex-matched healthy, control children. Serum levels of the cytokines IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, IFN-γ, and TNF-α were measured using a sandwich ELISA method, .The age range of the children was 1-15 years, with a mean ± SD of 5.75 ± 4.36 years.TNF-α levels were significantly higher in the DS and ID groups compared with those found in healthy, control children (P<0.05). The DS and ID groups had significantly higher IFN-γ levels compared with healthy, control children (P = 0.0002 and P<0.01, respectively), with significant higher levels in the DS than the ID group (P<0.05). Serum from the ID group showed significantly higher IL-10 levels compared with those from the DS group (P<0.05), but not the healthy, control group. Significant correlations were found between the differences in TNF-α and IFN-γ levels, in both ID (rs = 0.558; P = 0.005) and DS children (rs = 0.405; P<0.05).There were no significant differences found in serum levels of IL-13 between the groups, and IL-5 was not detectable in any of the serum samples.Levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ were increased, and IL-10 decreased in serum from children with DS. It may be that these differences contribute to the clinical symptoms seen in DS: consequently, these pro-inflammatory cytokines might be useful as early biomarkers of the disorders associated with DS.

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Keywords

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