Diagnostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-17 in association with molecular diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti infection

Objective: To explore effective diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti through DNA-based\udtechniques followed by assessment of vascular endothelial growth factor concentration\ud(VEGF-C) and interleukin 17 (IL-17) as indicators for lymphatic endothelial cell activation,\udproliferation and massive tissue reaction that may be a good indicator for ongoing lymphatic\udfilariasis.\udMethods: Blood samples were collected from 38 patients: 23 males (60.5%) and 15 females\ud(39.5%) with filariasis and from controls (60 from a non-endemic and 22 from endemic areas).\udPCR was used to prove infection. A specific and sensitive ELISA was used to determine serum\udIL-17 and VEGF-C.\udResults: A total of 28 patients (46.7%) were positive by PCR, while 10 patients (16.7%) were\udnegative by PCR. Serum level of vascular endothelial growth factor was significantly high\udin acute cases [(2 147.00 ± 556.00) pg/mL] and in cases of early elephantiasis [(1 950.00 ±\ud638.00) pg/mL] and lowest in cases of late elephantiasis, endemic and non endemic controls\ud[(1 238.00 ± 443.00), (807.11 ± 6.20) and (857.00 ± 91.50) pg/mL respectively]. Serum IL-17\udwas found to be significantly high in acute cases, early elephantiasis and late elephantiasis cases\ud[(8 601 ± 1131), (7 867 ± 473) and (6593 ± 378) pg/mL respectively] when compared to endemic\udcontrols [(3 194 ± 1 500 pg/mL)] and non endemic controls [(3 416 ± 1 101) pg/mL].\udConclusions: VEGF-C and its inducing factor IL-17 are expected to gain more importance in\udfilariasis. Targeting such factors might ameliorate the pathology in chronic filariasis