Evaluation of the serum IL-17 and IL-23 levels in Helicobacter pylori-infected peptic ulcer patients

H. pylori is a major etiologic agent for several gastroduoedenal diseases including gastric ulcer and peptic ulcer. It has been reported that the Th17 cells strongly associated with inflammatory disease and IL-23 presented as a main inducer of Th17 cells development. The aim of this study was to investigate the serum levels of IL-17 and IL-23 in H. pylori-infected peptic ulcer (PU) patients and H. pylori-infected asymptomatic (AS) carriers. Totally, 45 H. pylori-infected PU patients, 30 H. pylori-infected AS carriers and 15 healthy uninfected subjects (as a control group) were enrolled to study. A blood sample was obtained from all participants and the serum levels of IL-17 and IL-23 was measured by ELISA method. The mean serum levels of IL-17 in total PU patients (9.28 pg/ml ± 5.48) was significantly higher than those observed in total AS subjects (5.19 pg/ml ± 3.75, p<0.001) and healthy control group (3.55 pg/ml ± 3.76, p<0.0001). The mean serum levels of IL-23 in PU, AS and control groups were 8.66 pg/ml ± 8.41, 7.25 pg/ml ± 5.66 and 3.64 pg/ml ± 3.36, respectively. The mean serum levels of IL-23 in PU and AS groups was significantly higher than those found in uninfected control group (P<0.02 and P<0.03, respectively). The results of the present study showed higher serum concentrations of IL-17 and IL-23 in H. pylori-infected subjects as compared with control group.