Increased Expression of Interleukin 13 in Iraqi Patients Suffer from Ulcerative Colitis Eidan Ali J.1, Haloob Haider M.2, Alazawy Kalid N.3, Hasan Ali M.4 1Ph. D., Immunology, Faculty of Nursing, University of Kufa, Iraq 2M. Sc., Adult Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Kufa, Iraq 3M. Sc., MLT Specialist in Medical City, Bagdad, MOH, Iraq 4B. Sc., Nursing, Al-Najaf Center for Cardiac Surgery, MOH, Iraq Online published on 21 February, 2019. Abstract Background Interleukin-13 is a cytokine that exerts strong proinflammatory activities. In this study, we aimed to evaluate changes in IL-13 expression in the inflamed mucosa and in the serum of patients with Ulcerative colitis. Patients and Method Tissue samples were collected endoscopically or surgically from patients with ulcerative colitis (n=46), and apparently normal colorectal tissues (n=32). IL-13 expression was evaluated by a standard immunohistochemical procedure and serum IL-13 levels were determined by ELISA technique. Results The IL-13 was sever expression in inflamed biopsies at score 4 (41.3%), moderate expression in non-inflamed biopsies at score 2 (63%), and low expression in apparently healthy control at score 2 (62.5%) in the interstitial space among colonocytes all along the crypt axis. Furthermore, UC patients had significantly elevated level of serum IL-13 than control group 58.69 ± 10.32 pg/ml, 24.14 ± 5.66 pg/ml respectively (p value <0.0001). Conclusions IL-13 expression in the mucosa and serum was increased in UC patients. It is likely that IL-13 expression in UC may be associated with inflammatory responses in the intestinal mucosa. Further studies were required to investigate the mRNA expression in UC. Top Keywords Cytokine, Immunohistochemistry, Inflammation, Ulcerative Colitis. Top |