Establishment of reference intervals for serum TNF-α, IFN-α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-17 and IFN-γ in healthy Chinese adults using flow cytometry.
AI interpretation is pending for this paper.
Open original publication →What the AI sees
Not AI summarized yet.
Research significance
Pending deeper interpretation.
Source abstract
BACKGROUND: Cytokines, small protein molecules from immune and nonimmune cells, are crucial for immune regulation, hematopoiesis, cell growth, and tissue repair. This study employed flow cytometry to measure serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-α (IFN-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-5 (IL-5), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-12p70 (IL-12p70), interleukin-17 (IL-17) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ), establishing reference intervals to aid clinical diagnostics and treatment. METHODS: From January to March 2024, 299 participants were selected based on predetermined exclusion and inclusion criteria. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test checked the distribution of cytokine levels, and reference intervals were set using the 95th percentile method following EP28-A3c and WS/T 402-2012 guidelines. RESULTS: The cytokines were not normally distributed, with notable sex differences in levels (P < 0.05), necessitating separate reference intervals for each sex. For women, these were: TNF-α ≤2.94 pg/mL, IFN-α ≤7.69 pg/mL, IL-1β ≤2.40 pg/mL, IL-2 ≤ 2.40 pg/mL, IL-4 ≤ 3.93 pg/mL, IL-5 ≤ 2.42 pg/mL, IL-6 ≤ 15.96 pg/mL, IL-8 ≤ 23.42 pg/mL, IL-10 ≤ 7.10 pg/mL, IL-12p70 ≤ 7.36 pg/mL, IL-17 ≤ 4.14 pg/mL, IFN-γ ≤4.29 pg/mL. For men: TNF-α ≤ 2.65 pg/mL, IFN-α ≤ 7.50 pg/mL, IL-1β ≤2.40 pg/mL, IL-2 ≤ 2.52 pg/mL, IL-4 ≤ 4.58 pg/mL, IL-5 ≤ 2.40 pg/mL, IL-6 ≤ 14.61 pg/mL, IL-8 ≤ 15.88 pg/mL, IL-10 ≤ 3.94 pg/mL, IL-12p70 ≤ 7.18 pg/mL, IL-17 ≤ 3.63 pg/mL, IFN-γ ≤4.18 pg/mL. CONCLUSIONS: We established reference intervals for serum TNF-α, IFN-α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-17 and IFN-γ in healthy adults from East China. These findings are crucial for assessing human immune status, diagnosing diseases, and advancing personalized medicine, laying the groundwork for studying inflammatory disease mechanisms.