Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia- IL1-β, IL-6, IL-8, and TGF- β concentrations in serum in patients treated with clarithromycin

Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) is a distinct clinicopathological entity with unknown etiology. The goal of the study was to assess concentrations of selected inflammatory cytokines in a serum in COP patients treated with clarithromycin (CAM), and correlation of it with response to treatment. Material and methods: In a 12-year period, 39 patients with COP (28 women and 11 men) in age 36-74 years, were enrolled to the study. CAM in a dose of 500 mg twice daily orally was administered to all patients for 3 months. Complete response was noted in 31 patients. Patients who did not respond or respond partially (2 and 6 patients respectively) were regarded as a non-responders (NR). The serum concentration of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TGF-β were assessed by ELISA method (Ru0026D Systems) before and after the treatment. Results: CAM treatment was associated with significant decreasing of IL-6, IL-8, and TGF- β serum concentrations. It was particularly due to decreasing of serum concentrations of this cytokines in patients who respond to treatment. IL-1β serum concentrations was similar in R and NR, and CAM treatment did not influence on them. Serum concentrations of IL-6 and TGF-β did not drop significantly during treatment in NR, but significant decreasing of IL-8 serum concentration was noted in this patients. Conclusions: The study supports hypothesis regarding role of IL-6, IL-8 and TGF1β in pathogenesis of COP and it was proved that decreasing of its concentrations was connected with response to CAM treatment.