M Faeqali Jan - Department of Applied Science, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
H Muneer Al-Khafaji - Department of Applied Science, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
B Hasan Al-Saadi - Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnologies for Post Graduate Studies, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
M. K Aneed Al-Saedi - Iraqi Hereditary company, Baghdad, Iraq

It has been approved that neutrophils are responsible for many inflammatory lung diseases, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma. It is well documented that the CXC chemokine interleukin-۸ (IL-۸) plays a key role as a potent neutrophil recruiting and activating factor. Asthma is one of the most common major non-contagious diseases and has a substantial impact on the patient’s quality of life. The current evidence suggests that asthma is a complex multifactorial disorder, and its etiology is increasingly attributed to interactions between genetic susceptibility, host factors, and environmental exposures. IL-۸ plays an important role in respiratory diseases and is a known regulator of pulmonary inflammation and immunity, induced phagocytosis, and promoted angiogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the IL-۸ gene expression in blood samples of bronchial asthma patients. Therefore, the blood samples were taken from two groups of participants, including the group of patients with asthma (n=۱۰۰) in the age range of۲۰-۶۱years and the group of healthy individuals (n=۵۰).The obtained results indicated that the expression of IL-۸ mRNA in the group of asthma patients was three times higher than that in the group of healthy individuals. Therefore, it is suggested that the antagonism of IL-۸ could be a potent therapeutic strategy in the treatment of asthma.

Bronchial asthma, Gene expression, IL-۸, qRT-PCR, RT-PCR