[Comparative assessment of various methods of determination of interleukin-5 production and their clinical significance in bronchial asthma].

Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is an important marker of inflammation in bronchial asthma (BA). The level of IL-5 was investigated by immune-enzyme assay (IEA); the expression degree of IL-5 mRNA was studied, before and after the conducted therapy, by the inhibition reaction-IEA (IR-IEA) in sputum and blood serum of patients. No differences between contents of IL-5 were found in blood plasma of patients with various disease degrees or of patients with different BA etiologies. The IL-5 contents in sputum were reliably different in different groups and depended on a disease severity, exacerbation and remission. An evaluation of an expression degree of the IL-5 RNAm in eosinophiles, derived from patients' blood, provided for clarifying the differences between acute asthma and other disease forms and for defining the therapy influence on the parameter in question. The IL-5 RNAm expression in sputum was reliably different in patients with moderate forms and with acute forms of the disease; it was decreasing due to treatment. Finally, the results of the evaluation of the IL-5 level and the study of mRNA expression of the cytokine mutually supplement one another and make it possible to evaluate the disease degree and therapy efficiency.