Monocyte and Blood Interleukin-12 Levels Patients with Obstructive Jaundice

摘要

Patients with obstructive jaundice have an increased incidence of peri-operative complications andimmune dysfunction. This study was to investigate interleukin (IL)-12 (a cellular immunity stimulant),levels in jaundiced patients. 23 jaundiced patients and 17 controls were studied. There was significantlyincreased monocyte IL-12 production in jaundice, as measured by an ELISA, compared with that incontrols (p<0.01 by Mann-Whitney U test). A similar increase is seen in both benign and malignantjaundice. There was no difference between plasma IL-12 levels in the two groups. It is concluded that injaundice, monocytes have a significantly increased capacity to release IL-12. This suggests that IL-12 mayplay a role in the immune dysfunction in jaundiced patients.