Russian Journal of ImmunologyRussian Journal of ImmunologyRussian Journal of Immunology1028-72212782-7291Russian Society of Immunology1755610.46235/1028-7221-17556-ICPORIGINAL ARTICLESОРИГИНАЛЬНЫЕ СТАТЬИUnknownINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE PROFILE IN ACINETOBACTER BAUMANNII INFECTION AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE PATTERNS AND CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN NAJAF, IRAQHasanN. A.
Iraq

M.Sc. Student

noor.a.hassan@jmu.edu.iqTaherpourA.
Iran, Islamic Republic of

Assistant professor, PhD

are_taherpour@yahoo.comHusseinA. A.
Iraq

Professor, PhD

ahmed.altwali@uokufa.edu.iqDepartment of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, IranDepartment of Criminal Evidence Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Jabir Ibn Hayyan University for Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, IraqDepartment of Laboratory Investigations, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Iraq050820261505202626072026Copyright ©; , Hasan N.A., Taherpour A., Hussein A.A.Copyright ©; , Hasan N., Taherpour A., Hussein A.Hasan N.A., Taherpour A., Hussein A.A.Hasan N., Taherpour A., Hussein A.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0https://rusimmun.ru/jour/article/view/17556

The rise of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and its virulence to elicit a strong inflammatory response in infected patients make it one of the most important healthcare-associated pathogens. This study is a case-control study that aimed to assess the levels of the cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the serum of patients with proven A. baumannii infection, and to evaluate the relationship of these cytokines with demographic, clinical, and antimicrobial resistance traits. One hundred patients with known infection and 100 seemingly healthy controls were recruited. Conventional microbiological methods were employed for processing the clinical specimens which were finally confirmed using the VITEK 2 Compact system. ELISA was used to determine the serum concentration of cytokines. Most of the isolates were considered to be extensively drug-resistant (XDR) (77%), multidrug-resistant (MDR) (20%), and pandrug-resistant (PDR) (3%). Patients had significantly elevated levels of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10 in their serum (p = 0.0001 for all). There was a significant correlation between the level of IL-6 and IL-10 (p = 0.019), while no correlation was found between IL-6 and TNF-α (p = 0.856) and between TNF-α and IL-10 (p = 0.284). There were no significant differences in levels of cytokines in relation to sex, age, hospitalization status, the type of hospital admission or the source of the specimen (p > 0.05). But, higher levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly associated with ICU admission (p = 0.012 and 0.034, respectively) and there was no difference in IL-10 (p = 0.121). Further, significantly higher levels of IL-6, TNF-a and IL-10 were present in patients with XDR isolates than in patients with MDR isolates (p = 0.018, p = 0.027 and p = 0.025 respectively). The results indicate that A. baumannii infection is accompanied by a strong inflammatory response and immunoregulatory response, especially in the most severely ill patients and infections with highly-resistant isolates, suggesting a potential role of inflammatory cytokines as markers of infection severity and host immune activation.

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