Cytokines responses to human African trypanosomiasis infection in Abraka, Nigeria

Background: The staging of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) has been greeted with different benchmarks ranging from white blood cell counts to the use of immune component profiles across regions. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze an array of cytokines to identify potential markers that could be used in the staging of HAT in Nigeria. Methods: Sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 35 HAT seropositives from Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria were subjected to cytokines (interleukin-10 [IL-10], tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-1α, IL-7, and IL-13) analysis using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Welch t-test and Tukey analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. Results: Comparing mean cytokine levels of weakly, moderately, and strongly positives and between as early and late stages results showed significantly depressed CSF levels of IL-1α and IL-7 while IL-10 was significantly elevated in the strongly positives as well as in the late stage. Conclusion: We strongly suggest that IL-10 could be playing a key role in the immuno-pathology of HAT, thus should be considered a biomarker for the late stage.