Evaluation of urinary interleukin-8 levels in patients with spinal cord injury

Recent Pat Antiinfect Drug Discov. 2014;9(2):144-9. doi: 10.2174/1574891x10666150310152532.

Abstract

Background: Interleukins are a group of cytokines responsible for regulating inflammatory and infectious responses. Interleukin-8 plays an important role in chemotaxis and functioning of leukocytes and is locally produced in infected tissues; it is seen in abundance in the urine of individuals with Urinary Tract Infection.

Material & methods: Midstream sterile urine sampling was performed in different patients admitted to the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) research center. The samples were tested to determine the level of IL-8 through the ELISA method. The commercial kit used for this study was an R & D kit built in Germany.

Results: The mean level of IL-8 was 369.59 pg/ml and 75.42 pg/ml in male and female patients respectively. Among the 97 patients under study, 87 (89.7%) were IL-8 positive (>10 pg/ml) and 10 patients were IL-8 negative (<10 pg/ml). Among the 87 IL-8 positive subjects, 64 patients had no UTI symptoms, while 23 did.

Conclusion: SCI patients should have their urinary IL-8 levels measured on a routine and periodic basis, irrespective of their SCI severity or the presence or absence of UTI symptoms. The timely and effective diagnosis & treatment of UTI can prevent the irreversible complications caused by frequent UTI and resistance to treatment in this group of patients.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Asymptomatic Infections*
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-8 / urine*
  • Male
  • Spinal Cord Injuries / complications
  • Spinal Cord Injuries / urine*
  • Urinary Tract Infections / complications
  • Urinary Tract Infections / diagnosis
  • Urinary Tract Infections / urine*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • CXCL8 protein, human
  • Interleukin-8