salivary levels of interleukin-23 in iranian patients with systemic sclerosis

Background: systemic sclerosis (ssc) is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by diffuse fibrosis and vascular abnormalities in the skin and internal organs. interleukin-23 (il-23) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that can enhance the expansion of t helper 17 (th17) cells and thus plays a critical role in many inflammatory autoimmune diseases. this study aimed to assess the salivary il-23 levels in iranian patients with ssc compared to healthy individuals.methods: in this cross-sectional study, unstimulated saliva samples (5 cc) were collected from 88 ssc patients and 88 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. the salivary levels of il-23 in the saliva samples were measured using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) kit.results: the mean salivary levels of il-23 in the patient group were significantly higher than in the control subjects (164.5 ± 22.1 ng/l vs. 95.8 ± 15.7 ng/l, p < 0.0001). in ssc patients, the salivary il-23 levels were significantly elevated in aca-positive compared to aca-negative participants (179.8 ± 11.2 ng/l vs. 144.3 ± 15.7 ng/l, p < 0.0001). however, il-23 was not associated with gender or age (p > 0.05).conclusion: the results suggest that il-23 is associated with the pathogenesis of ssc; therefore, this pro-inflammatory cytokine is not only a valuable supportive biomarker for monitoring the disease progression but also blocking il-23 could be considered a potential therapeutic target, especially in early ssc. further comprehensive studies are needed to confirm our findings.