Correlation between serum IL-17 levels with Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels of new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis at Sanglah Central General Hospital, Bali, Indonesia

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a mycobacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs and triggers lung damage and dysfunction related to the reléase of IL-17, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), and C-Reactive Protein (CRP). This study aims to evaluate the correlation between serum IL-17 levels with ESR and CRP levels in new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis at Sanglah Central General Hospital, Bali, Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 56 TB patients treated as new pulmonary TB cases in Outpatient and Inpatient Internal Medicine at Sanglah Hospital, Bali, Indonesia. IL-17 levels in this study were the results of IL-17 examination from patient serum using the ELISA method from R&Dsystems with units of pg/mL. The Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) in this study is the rate of blood deposition in mm/hour using a Westergreen tube. Meanwhile, the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) examination was carried out using a Roche 6000 analyzer in mg/dL. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 16 for Windows. Results: Most respondents are female (75.0%) and the 30-34 years old group (26.8%). The mean value of ESR is 40.39±25.86 mm/hour, followed by CRP (9.95±10.01 mg/dL), and IL-17 (15.21±1.20 pg/mL). There is no significant correlation between ESR to CRP (r=0.069; p=0.613) and IL-17 (r=0.135; p=0.323). In addition, there is no significant correlation between CRP and IL-17 (r=0.168; p=0.215). Conclusion: This study's results indicate no significant correlation between IL-17 levels with CRP and ESR or between CRP and ESR.