Changes in Cytokine Levels in Patients with Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus

Da-Li Xu,1 Xiao-Mei Zhang,2 Xue-Ying Tian,2 Xian-Jun Wang,2 Lin Zhao,1 Meng-Ying Gao,1 Lian-Feng Li,1 Jia-Qi Zhao,1 Wu-Chun Cao,1,3,* Shu-Jun Ding2,* 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong UniversityJinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China; 3State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shu-Jun Ding, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 16992 Jingshi Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86 531 82679587, Email dsj_jn@126.com Wu-Chun Cao, State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, 20 Dong-da Street, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, Email caowuchun@126.comPurpose: To characterize the cytokine profile of patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in relation to disease severity.Patients and Methods: 60 laboratory-confirmed SFTS patients and 12 healthy individuals from multi-centers in Shandong Province of China were included, and all patients were divided into fatal patients (9) and recovered patients (51) due to their final outcomes. Multiplex-microbead immunoassays were conducted to estimate levels of 27 cytokines in the sera of patients and controls.Results: The results showed that levels of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-15, IL-1RA, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, TNF-α, basic FGF, PDGF-BB, RANTES, IP-10, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, MCP-1, and Eotaxin differed significantly among the SFTS fatal ...