Adamantiades-Behçet's disease: serum IL-8 is a more reliable marker for disease activity than C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate

Background: Interleukin 8 (IL-8) has recently been under focused investigation because of its possible participation in the evolution of Adamantiades-Behçet's disease.

Objective: The reliability of IL-8 as a serological marker for the activity of the disease was investigated in a prospective consecutive trial of 34 cases.

Methods: The activity of the disease was clinically evaluated by the number of actively involved organ systems registered on the day of blood sampling and by the presence of oral aphthous ulcers. Serum IL-8 levels were compared to C-reactive protein (CRP) values and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

Results: An association of IL-8 levels with the activity of the disease was detected when compared with both the number of active clinical signs (p = 0.024) and the presence of oral aphthous ulcers (p = 0.002). In contrast, no association of CRP and sedimentation rate with the activity of the disease could be detected. A weak correlation of IL-8 levels with sedimentation rate values at 2 h was found (R = 0.37, p = 0.032).

Conclusion: Our results confirm previous data concerning the significance of IL-8 and, in addition, they provide first evidence for the reliability of IL-8 as a serological marker for assessment of the activity of Adamantiades-Behçet's disease in the follow-up of clinical and therapeutic studies.