Systemic cytokine potential in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who completed treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis

The objective : to investigate the cytokine potential (TGF-β1, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-4) in the systemic blood circulation of patients who successfully completed treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis, depending on whether they have chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). Subjects and methods . The study included 118 patients who had successfully completed treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis by the time of the examination. Group 1 included 79 patients with different forms of pulmonary tuberculosis without COPD, Group 2 – 39 patients with different forms of pulmonary tuberculosis and concurrent COPD. The Control Group consisted of 24 healthy individuals.In all patients, the levels of IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-4, as well as the active form of TGF-β1 were tested in the systemic blood circulation using commercial ELISA test systems. Results . By the time of successful tuberculosis treatment completion, COPD patients were found to develop the following: a special Th2-associated form of immune imbalance characterized by the reduced systemic level of TNF-α in combination with the increased level of IL-4; the increased risk of development and progression of pulmonary fibrosis due to the high level of growth factor TGF-β1 (in comparison with patients without COPD); elevated levels of TGF-β1 (compared with patients without COPD), creating favorable endogenous conditions for tuberculosis relapse.