Levels of inflammatory markers are differentially expressed in sickle cell anemia and sickle cell trait

Abstract

Although sickle cell anemia (SCA) is related to inflammation, the profile of inflammatory markers in sickle cell trait (SCT) is poorly studied. This is a cross-sectional study of inflammatory biomarkers carried out involving adults with SCA in steady state, SCT and controls. The SCA group had higher levels of lactato dehydrogenase, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha than the others, while the SCT group had similar levels to control group. In addition, SCA group had lower IL-8/IL-10 and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1/IL-10 ratios. These findings indicate that individuals with SCT do not have a chronic inflammatory profile and reinforce that cytokines are involved in the maintenance of the inflammatory state in SCA.

Keywords: adults; cytokines; inflammation; sickle cell anemia; sickle cell trait.

FIGURE 1

Serum levels of inflammatory markers lactato dehydrogenase (LDH) (1A), IL‐1β (1B), IL‐6 (1C), IL‐8 (1D), IL‐10 (1E), TNF‐α (1F), and sTREM‐ 1 (1G) in the Hb‐SS (red), Hb‐AS (blue), and Hb‐AA (grey) groups. Dots represent each patient included in analysis, and lines represent mean plus standard error of the mean. Differences were assessed using Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn's posttest.

FIGURE 2

Serum levels of inflammatory cytokines/IL‐10 ratios IL‐1β/IL‐10 (2A), IL‐6/IL‐10 (2B), TNF‐α/IL‐10 (2C), IL‐8/IL‐10 (2D), sTREM‐ 1/IL‐10 (2E) in Hb‐SS (red), Hb‐AS (blue) and Hb‐AA (grey) groups. Bars and upper lines represent mean plus standard error of the mean. Differences were tested using Kruskal–Wallis plus Dunn tests.