Association between asthma control and Interleukin-17F expression levels in adult patients with atopic asthma

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the correlation between Interleukin 17 (IL-17F) and the level of asthma control. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 40 subjects who were diagnosed with atopic asthma. All participants were recruited from the Allergy and Immunology Clinic, Prof. R.D. Kandou General Hospital, Manado, Indonesia, between April 2015 and April 2016. Total serum IL-17F measured by using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay methods; and mRNA IL-17F was obtained by using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Level of asthma control was quantified by using asthma control test (ACT) scoring system. The correlation between IL-17F, mRNA, and level of asthma control was analyzed by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r). RESULTS: There is a strong positive correlation between IL-17F serum level and Nathan’s ACT-score (r=0.969) which is statistically significant (p<0.001). Analysis of the correlation between mRNA IL-17F serum level and Nathan’s ACT-score revealed a strong positive correlation (r=0.963), which is statistically significant (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that IL-17F plays an important role in asthma control. However, the role played by IL-17F in asthma pathogenesis are still questions to be answered.