Negative association of serum IL-6 and IL-17 with type-II diabetes retinopathy

ABSTRACT

Diabetes mellitus [DM] is a health concern which leads to complications such as retinopathy. Pakistan has 6.9 million people living with DM and this toll will be doubled by 2025. To determine serum IL-6 and IL-17 of type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM] patients with retinopathy. In this cross-sectional case- control study, 212 subjects enrolled which were categorized into 3 groups. Group-I included 30 subjects without diabetes, group-II consisted of 30 subjects with T2DM without retinopathy and group-III consisted of 152 subjects with T2DM and retinopathy. Serum IL-6 and IL-17 levels were determined by ELISA. Data was analysed using SPSS 17.0 and one way ANOVA to observe group mean differences. Longer mean duration of disease was detected in group-III than group-II [p=0.007]. Highest IL-6 level was detected in group-II and highest IL-17 level was detected in group-I. For IL-6, significant differences were detected among groups in total, between Group-I and Group-III and between Group-II and Group-III [p<0.0001 each]. Regarding IL-17, significant differences were found among groups in total [p=0.002] and between Group-I and Group-III [p=0.001]. No significant difference in the percentages of HbA1c observed between groups. Age, gender and duration of diabetes contribute to T2DM retinopathy. Serum IL-6 and IL-17 were inversely associated with T2DM retinopathy