Increased serum IL-17 is an independent risk factor for severe asthma.

Background: IL-17 expression was found to be associated with many inflammatory diseases in humans, such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, systemic lupus erythematosus and allograft rejection and many in vitro studies have indicated a proinflammatory function for IL-17.

Objective: Prognostic value of increased serum IL-17 in asthma patients.

Methods: Serum IL-17 (ELISA) was measured in 85 asthma patients (pts), mean age 46.