%0 Journal Article %T Expression of IL-17 and COX2 Gene in Peripheral Blood Leukocytes of Vitiligo Patients %A Behnaz Esmaeili %A Seyed Abdol Rahim Rezaee %A Pouran Layegh %A Jalil Tavakkol Afshari %J Iranian Journal Of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology %D 2011 %I Tehran University of Medical Sciences %X Vitiligo is a pigmentation disorder in which inflammatory mediators such as cytokines have a pivotal role in disease's pathogenesis. Interleukin 17 (IL-17A) is a proinflammatory cytokine which is involved in the induction of several proinflamatory mediators such as cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). The aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression of IL-17 and COX2 in peripheral blood leukocytes of vitiligo's patients.Peripheral blood leukocytes from 15 patients with vitiligo and 15 healthy controls were separated using a gradient density centrifugation method. After total RNA isolation and cDNA synthesis, IL-17 and COX2 gene expression were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). There were no significant differences in IL-17 and COX2 gene expression in lymphocytes of patients with vitiligo compared with control group (p<0.05). However there was an increased IL-17 and COX2 gene expression in neutrophils of patients compared to controls, but it did not reach statistical significance (p=0.05). We could not find any differences in IL-17 and Cox2 gene expression between clinical diseases subtypes, sex and age. There was a significant correlation between IL-17 and COX2 genes expression in the neutrophils of patients (p=0.00, r=0.80). Our results showed an increased expression in IL-17 and Cox-2 genes in neurophils of patients with vitiligo. This suggested that these two factors are involved in the inflammatory process. Further studies with a larger sample size might help to establish the role of these factors in the pathogenesis of diseases. %K COX2 %K IL-17 %K Neutrophils %K Real-time PCR %K Vitiligo %U http://journals.tums.ac.ir/PdfMed.aspx?pdf_med=/upload_files/pdf/18438.pdf&manuscript_id=18438