Serum VEGF and TNF-α Correlate Bacterial Burden in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Bhat Harish1,*, Ambekar Jeevan G2, Harwalkar Anand Kumar3, Dongre Nilima4, Das Kusal K5 1PhD Scholar, Department of Biochemistry, BLDE (DU)’s Shri B.M. Patil Medical College, Vijayapura, Karnataka, India 2Professor, Department of Biochemistry, BLDE (DU)’s Shri B.M. Patil Medical College, Vijayapura, Karnataka, India 3Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Navodaya Medical College, Raichur, Karnataka, India 4Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, BLDE (DU)’s Shri B.M. Patil Medical College, Vijayapura, Karnataka, India 5Professor, Laboratory of Vascular Physiology and Medicine, Department of Physiology, BLDE (DU)’s Shri B.M. Patil Medical College, Vijayapura, Karnataka, India *Corresponding Author: Mr. Harish Bhat, PhD Scholar, Department of Biochemistry, BLDE (DU)'s Shri B.M. Patil Medical College, Vijayapura-586103, Karnataka, India Contact: (M): +91 9448725021 Email: kollur.harishbhat@gmail.com
Online published on 21 February, 2019. Abstract Background Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is one of the predominant causes of death worldwide. The tissue hypoxic condition seen in PTB induces the increased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). In the present study we aimed to evaluate the role of serum VEGF, TNF-α and their correlation with bacterial burden measured in terms of sputum acid fast bacilli (AFB) grading in PTB. Method The study included 120 newly diagnosed PTB cases and 60 healthy controls. Sputum samples from cases were subjected to microscopy for the detection of AFB. Demographic and anthropometric characteristics were recorded. Serum VEGF and TNF-α were estimated by ELISA method. Results Serum levels of VEGF and TNF-α in PTB patients were significantly higher compared to controls (p<0.001 & p<0.001 respectively). BMI of PTB cases was lower than controls (p<0.001).We observed significant positive correlation between serum VEGF and sputum AFB grade (r=0.773, p<0.001) and serum TNF-α and sputum AFB grade (r=0.662, p<0.001). We also noted a significant positive correlation between serum VEGF and serum TNF-α (r=0.763, p<0.001) in PTB patients. Conclusions The increased serum levels of VEGF and TNF-α were associated with bacterial burden in PTB. Hence, positive sputum smear for AFB, low BMI and increased serum VEGF and TNF-α could be early diagnostic markers and may help immediate treatment regimen for PTB. Top Keywords Angiogenic biomarker, Body mass index, Hypoxia, Inflammatory cytokine, Pulmonary tuberculosis, Sputum acid fast bacilli grading. Top |