Cytokines Responses to Human African Trypanosomiasis Infection in Abraka, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The staging of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) has been greeted with different benchmarks ranging from white blood cell counts to the use of immune component profiles across regions.
Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze an array of cytokines to identify potential markers that could be used in the staging of HAT in Nigeria.
Methods: Sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 35 HAT seropositives from Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria were subjected to cytokines(interleukin‑10 [IL‑10], tumor necrosis factor‑α, IL-1α, IL‑7, and IL‑13) analysis using enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay. Welch t‑test and Tukey analysis of variance were used to analyze the data.
Results: Comparing mean cytokine levels of weakly, moderately, and strongly positives and between as early and late stages results showed significantly depressed CSF levels of IL‑1α and IL‑7 while IL‑10 was significantly elevated in the strongly positives as well as in the late stage.
Conclusion: We strongly suggest that IL‑10 could be playing a key role in the immuno‑pathology of HAT, thus should be considered a biomarker for the late stage.