Interleukin-18 Levels in Lymphocytes Cultures from Atopic Dermatitis Patients Stimulated by Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has an important role in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD). S. aureus acts as a triggering factor for AD and also causes chronic inflammation. These roles of S. aureus are related to various proteins such as Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) as a potent toxin. Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is an important regulator of cytokine production of Th-1, which is interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). The aim of this study was to reveal the levels of IL-18 in cultured lymphocytes from AD patients exposed by SEB. This study was conducted on 20 people with DA (7 men and 13 women) and 20 healthy volunteers (9 men and 11 women) in dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital. The in vitro experimental study on cultured lympocytes exposed with SEB was performed at the Integrated Research and Testing Laboratory of Gadjah Mada University. The average levels of IL-18 in cultured lymphocytes before and after being exposed to SEB increased both in AD group and control group. After the statistical tests was performed on the ratio of the average levels of IL-18 before and after being exposed to SEB between AD and control groups, it was shown that the levels of IL-18 AD group was significantly higher than the control group (p <0.05). Therefore, it can be concluded that the levels of IL-18 increased higher in AD group exposed by SEB.