Expression of IL-17 and COX2 Gene in Peripheral Blood Leukocytes of Vitiligo Patients

Vitiligo is a pigmentation disorder in which inflammatory mediators such as cytokines have a pivotal role in disease's pathogenesis. interleukin 17 (il-17a) is a proinflammatory cytokine which is involved in the induction of several proinflamatory mediators such as cyclooxygenase 2 (cox2). the aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression of il-17 and cox2 in peripheral blood leukocytes of vitiligo's patients. peripheral blood leukocytes from 15 patients with vitiligo and 15 healthy controls were separated using a gradient density centrifugation method. after total rna isolation and cdna synthesis, il-17 and cox2 gene expression were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (pcr). there were no significant differences in il-17 and cox2 gene expression in lymphocytes of patients with vitiligo compared with control group (p<0.05). however there was an increased il-17 and cox2 gene expression in neutrophils of patients compared to controls, but it did not reach statistical significance (p=0.05). we could not find any differences in il-17 and cox2 gene expression between clinical diseases subtypes, sex and age. there was a significant correlation between il-17 and cox2 genes expression in the neutrophils of patients (p=0.00, r=0.80). our results showed an increased expression in il-17 and cox-2 genes in neurophils of patients with vitiligo. this suggested that these two factors are involved in the inflammatory process. further studies with a larger sample size might help to establish the role of these factors in the pathogenesis of diseases.