Evaluation of Interleukin 10 Levels among Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Attending Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano

Despite medical advances, tuberculosis is responsible for over one billion deaths in the last 200 years. This study was carried out to determine interleukin 10 levels in serum of tuberculosis patients attending Aminu Kano Specialist Hospital, Kano (AKTH). A total of 330 subjects were enlisted for this study. The subjects were grouped into: Group A (30 control) and Group B (300 subjects). DNA sequences specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance were detected using Gene Xpert MTB/RIF assay. 5mls of blood were aseptically collected from subjects using standard venipuncture procedure into plain tubes for HIV and Interleukin 10 assay. TB patients co-infected with HIV were excluded from this study. The Interleukin 10 level was measured using commercial Sandwich ELISA kits. The result revealed that there was significant difference (p<0.05) between the interleukin 10 levels of the test (11.30±3.79) and control group (9.38±4.39). Furthermore, the result showed that there was no significant difference (p>0.05) between the interleukin-10 levels of rifampicin resistant (11.80±3.87) and non-rifampicin resistant patients (11.65±3.55). Interleukin 10 was also found to be higher among patients aged 30-39 (12.33±3.31) and female patients (11.95±3.50) than in male patients (11.45±3.65). Furthermore, Interleukin 10 level was found to be higher in TB patients before anti TB treatment (12.54±3.82) than in patients after treatment (9.86±3.59). The findings of the study showed that interleukin 10 is a viable biomarker in the pathogenesis of TB infection and can be used as prognostic marker for management of TB patients.