SHORT COMMUNICATION Detection of Circulant Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, Soluble Tumor Necrosis Factor p75 and Interferon-γ in Brazilian Patients with Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever

Pro-inflammatory cytokines are believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of dengue infection. This study reports cytokine levels in a total of 54 patients examined in Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil. Five out of eight patients who had hemorrhagic manifestations presented tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels in sera which were statistically higher than those recorded for con-trols. In contrast, only one out of 16 patients with mild manifestations had elevated TNF-α levels. The levels of interleukin-6 (IL), IL-1β tested in 24 samples and IL-12 in 30 samples were not significantly increased. Interferon-γ was present in 10 out of 30 patients with dengue. The data support the concept that the increased level of TNF-α is related to the severity of the disease. Soluble TNF receptor p75 was found in most patients but it is unlikely to be related to severity since it was found with an equivalent frequency and levels in 15 patients with dengue fever and another 15 with dengue hemorrhagic fever. Key words: dengue- cytokines- dengue hemorrhagic fever Dengue has been claimed to be an immuno-pathological disease (Halstead 1980). Patients with dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) initially show typical systemic manifestations of dengue feve