Introduction: Multiple drug intolerance is a serious complication of drug therapy and is an issue of allergology. The aim of the study was the investigation of cytokine status in patients with drug hypersensitivity and multiple drug hypersensitivity.
Material and methods: 19 patients with multiple drug hypersensitivity, 34 patients with hypersensitivity to one drug, and 35 non-allergic subjects were involved. Only women were included in the study. A multiplex assay of 27 cytokines and chemokines was performed using xMap technology (Human Cytokine Panel I by Bio-Rad).
Results: Women with drug allergy revealed increased IL-2 levels (p < 0.05). In the case of the study of cytokine status in patients with multiple drug hypersensitivity, the new data revealed the prevalence of pro-inflammatory cytokine status with the participation of cytokines IL-17, IL-9, TNF-α, IP-10, and MIP-1.
Conclusions: Various immune response arms Th2, Th17, as well as macrophages were the determining factors in the cytokine balance that was found in patients with multiple drug hypersensitivity.
Keywords: IL-17; TNF-α; drug allergy; multiple drug hypersensitivity.