EVALUATION OF SERUM IL-6, IL-17, AND TNF- A AS POTENTIAL IMMUNOLOGICAL BIOMARKERS IN PATIENTS WITH VITILIGO

Background: Vitiligo is a chronic immune-mediated depigmenting disorder accompanied by both hyperactive inflammatory and autoimmunity pathways. Objective: To evaluate the serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-17 (IL-17), and tumor necrosis factor-A (TNF-A) in vitiligo patients, determine the correlation of these cytokines with vitiligo severity, and estimate their diagnostic performance. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional case-control study was performed at Al-Diwaniya Teaching Hospital-Iraq. A total of 180 subjects, including 88 clinically diagnosed vitiligo patients and 92 apparently healthy controls, were enrolled. With respect to the extent of disease involvement, patients were classified in mild (n=42), moderate (n=33) and severe (n=13) disease involvement groups. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure serum levels of IL-6, IL-17 and TNF-A.