Expression of serological indicators in children with allergic rhinitis and their correlation with disease activity

Zhao Qin; Hu Binya; Zhang Mengping; Xie Lihua

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-7151.2025.01.010

Abstract：Objective To investigate the levels of serum Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4),interleukin-18(IL-18)and CXC chemokine ligand 16(CXCL16)in children with allergic rhinitis(AR)and their correlation with disease activity,and provide new insights for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of AR.Methods Serum samples were collected from 100 children with AR admitted to Hunan Children's Hospital from January 2021 to January 2024 and 100 healthy children during the same period,who were included in observation group and control group,respectively.Based on the severity of clinical symptoms,the children in observation group were further divided into mild group(45 cases),moderate group(30 cases)and severe group(25 cases).Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect the serum TLR4,IL-18 and CXCL16 in all children,and the differences in above indicators between two groups were compared.The correlation between the biomarkers and AR disease activity was analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis method combined with clinical symptom scores.Results The levels of serum TLR4,IL-18 and CXCL16 in observation group were higher than those in control group[TLR4(μg/L):2.24±0.12 vs.0.45±0.21;IL-18(ng/L):124.21±11.21 vs.23.56±2.91;CXCL16(ng/L):658.19±32.51 vs.201.25±13.18;all P<0.05].The levels of TLR4,IL-18 and CXCL16 in severe group were higher than those in mild group and moderate group[TLR4(μg/L):2.67±0.34 vs.1.23±0.12,1.98±0.23;IL-18(ng/L):134.67±15.27 vs.113.25±10.57,124.26±11.67;CXCL16(ng/L):718.45±56.67 vs.578.34±22.67,646.12±32.51;all P<0.05].Pearson correlation analysis showed that the levels of TLR4,IL-18 and CXCL16 were positively correlated with the severity of AR(r values were 0.512,0.506 and 0.591,P values were 0.000,0.001 and 0.000).Conclusion TLR4,IL-18 and CXCL16 play important roles in the pathogenesis of AR and provide new potential targets for the clinical treatment of AR.