RESUMO
AIM: To explore the effect of dexamethasone combined with metronidazole in the treatment of mammary duct ectasia (MDE) and its relationship with changes in serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-17 expression. METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients with MDE were divided into two groups randomly, control and observation groups (each n = 60). Another 50 patients with normal physical examination were recruited in the normal group. The expressions of serum IL-10 and IL-17 in three groups before and after treatment were observed. The prediction value of IL-10 and IL-17 in clinical efficacy was evaluated. RESULTS: Among three groups, the expression of IL-10 in the normal group was the highest (P < 0.001), but the expression of IL-17 was the lowest (P < 0.001). After treatment, the expression of IL-17 in observation group was lower (P < 0.001), the expression of IL-10 was higher (P < 0.05) than that in the control group. The areas under the IL-10 and IL-17 curve were 0.874 and 0.806, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Dexamethasone combined with metronidazole can effectively improve the clinical efficacy of MDE patient treatment and serum IL-10 and IL-17 can be used as potential predictors of treatment efficacy.
