Background: Non-healing wounds are becoming a growing concern for public health as a result of their increasing prevalence in progressively aging societies.
Objectives: The aim of this article is to evaluate the effects of wound etiology on a panel of circulating cytokines in patients with non-healing wounds of the lower extremities.
Material and methods: This prospective case-control study involved 104 individuals: healthy elderly people (n = 46) and patients with diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease (n = 58; among them 38 with chronic wounds of venous, ischemic or neurotrophic etiology). Selected serum cytokines - i.e. IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, FGF-2, G-CSF, GM-CSF, MCP-1, MIP-1α, TNF-α, VEGF-A, and PDGF-BB - were measured using the Luminex platform.
Results: Compared to healthy elderly people, presence of diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease was associated with elevated IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1 and G-CSF while non-healing wounds coexisted with the increase in the levels of all examined cytokines/growth factors except for G-CSF and GM-CSF. Among diseased elderly people, having wounds was associated with increased levels of IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, FGF-2, MIP-1α, PDGF-BB, and VEGF-A. Interleukin 1β elevation was a sole independent predictor of chronic wounds with an odds ratio (OR) of 6.3. Cytokines in healthy seniors were loosely interrelated, while the levels of cytokines in diseased patients with wounds displayed a tight pattern of association. When stratified by their etiology, the association pattern for IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, and VEGF-A was disrupted in neurotrophic wounds.
Conclusions: The results presented herein may improve our understanding of the pathomechanisms which lead to chronic wounds and of the effects they exert on a systemic level, as well as providing potential targets for more effective therapies.
Keywords: diabetes; inflammation; ischemic wounds; neurotrophic wounds; venous stasis.