Introduction: Evaluating the profile of selected cytokines in patients with food allergy and chronic gastritis. Cytokines are produced by many cells and they play a role of mediators in the development of local and systemic inflammatory reaction. The aim of the study was to determine serum concentrations of IL-4, IL-5, IL-8, TNFa in patients with chronic gastritis and food allergy, who had been infected with H. pylori.
Material and methods: The study was conducted on patients with atopic diathesis, who were allergic to certain foods. The study group consisted of 71 patients, including 42 females aged 16-54 years (mean age 35.5 years) and 29 males aged 18-60 years (mean age 36.2 years). One control group was formed of 40 non-atopic patients aged 18-56 years (mean age 34.8 years), suffering from chronic gastritis. The other control group consisted of 30 subjects with the diagnosis of functional dyspepsia. Serum levels of selected cytokines were determined with the kits manufactured by ENDOGEN (Cambridge MA, USA) using enzyme immunoassay ELISA. The concentrations of parameters were determined in two tests and they were given as mean value.
Results: Mean serum Il-4 level in atopic patients was 27.85 pg/ml, while it was 13.26 pg/ml in non-atopic subjects with chronic gastritis and 4.3 pg/ml in patients with functional dyspepsia. The concentration of IL-5 ranged between 0 and 111.3 pg/ml (mean value: 7.43 pg/ml) in subjects with food allergy. Comparative analysis of IL-4 and IL-5 concentrations in atopic patients and in control subjects showed the presence of statistically significant differences (p<0.001). The remaining cytokines, i.e. IL-8 and TNFα showed a significant increase in serum levels in patients chronic gastritis when compared to the subjects with functional dyspepsia, without inflammatory changes.
Conclusions: Chronic exposure of the patients with food allergy to a given food allergen makes the levels of IL-4 and IL-5 rise. In atopic subjects with chronic gastritis and H. pylori infection, the increase in IL-4, IL-5, IL-8 and TNFα levels suggests that both infectious and allergic factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammation.

Keywords: food allergy, gastritis, Cytokines