ABSTRACT
Visceral Leishmaniasis [VL] is a systemic infection of the reticulo- endothelial system that could affect on immune system and biochemical parameters like the concentration of trace elements which may be significantly changed. Evaluating the level of cytokines [INF- gamma, IL-10] and concentration of Zn in Visceral Leishmaniasis in children after diagnosis. A total of [98] child their ages rang [6m-5y] were attending to the Central Public Health Laboratory and Teaching Laboratories of Medical City suspected to be infected with kala-azar, the diagnosis was done by both IFAT technique and Rapid Kala-azar [r-K39] detecting test and evaluating the level of cytokines [INF- gamma, IL-10] by ELISA and concentration of trace element [Zn] by Atomic Absorption Technique. The dipstick test [r-K39] showed a high sensitivity of [92.1%] compared to IFAT [73.6%] with a specificity of 100% for both tests. Serum samples of 56 child with positive results in IFAT and rK39 test were used for the investigation of IL-10, IFN- gamma. The mean levels of IL-10 [80.207 +/- 77.54 Pg/ml] and IFN- gamma [5.426 +/- 4.599 IU/ml] were highly significant increased in patients compared to healthy controls .The mean level of serum Zn [69.71 +/- 7.97 micro g/dl] was significantly low in VL patients compared to healthy controls. This study showed that the [r-K39] dipstick test could be more sensitive than IFAT technique in the diagnosis of VL with a specificity of 100% for both test according to clinical diagnosis. Both IFN- gamma and IL-10 were significantly increased in VL patients as compared to controls group. The concentration of Zinc was significantly lower in VL patients than healthy controls