Abstract:OBJECTIVE: To study the value of eosinophils (EOS) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) in nasopharyngeal secretions in the evaluation of progress of wheezing in children under 5 years old. METHODS: Fifty-three children under five years old who had recurrent wheezing were classified into two groups: wheezing group I with atopic body (n=27) and wheezing group II without atopic body (n=26). Twenty pre-surgical children with non-infectious disease were used as the control group. Nasopharyngeal secretions were collected. Inflammatory cells in nasopharyngeal secretions were counted under the microscope. IL-17 levels in supernatants were measured using ELISA. RESULTS: EOS counts in nasopharyngeal secretions in wheezing group I were significantly higher than those in wheezing group II and the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively). There were no significant differences in EOS counts between wheezing II and the control groups. The IL-17 levels in both wheezing groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.01), and the wheezing group I had increased IL-17 levels than wheezing group II (1 474±974 pg/mL vs 788±132 pg/mL; P<0.05). The IL-17 level was positively correlated with the EOS counts in wheezing group I (r=0.62, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: EOS counts and IL-17 levels in nasopharyngeal secretions may be used as indices for identifying the tendency to develop asthma in children under 5 years old with wheezing.［Chin J Contemp Pediatr, 2010, 12 (2):113-116］
