The aim of this study was to evaluate the plasma levels of IL-17A in fibromyalgia patients, and to look for any correlations between this data and the concentrations of some pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.
We performed a study including 58 fibromyalgia patients and 39 healthy women matched for age and body mass index. The plasma levels of IL-17A and other pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were measured by using the technique of cytometric bead array (CBA). The analysis of differences between groups was performed using Mann-Whitney test and the analysis of the correlations by Spearman's correlation test.
The analyses showed that fibromyalgia patients present increased levels of IL-17A. They also revealed that plasma concentrations of IL17A positively correlate with levels of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10, TNF and IFNγ.
As far as we are aware, this is the first study to demonstrate increased levels of IL17A in fibromyalgia patients. The positive correlation between the levels of IL-17A and of other cytokines strengthens the hypothesis of the involvement of inflammatory mechanisms in the development of this syndrome.