Relationship between levels of IFNγ, TNFα, and TGFβ and pruritus in sulfur mustard-exposed veterans

Figures & data

Table 1.  Calculation of total pruritus scores from detailed related variables.

	Score	Description		Total score
Severity	1	Slight itching sensation without necessity of scratching		5
	2	Slight itching sensation with necessity to scratch, but without excoriations
	4	Scratching accompanied by excoriation
	5	Pruritus causing total restlessness
Distribution	1	For each region (arms, trunk or legs)		5
	5	Generalized itching
Frequency	0.5	Two periods of less than 10 minutes		5
	1	For each period more than 10 minutes
	5	Maximally
The score of severity, distribution and frequency of pruritus was recorded separately for the morning and the afternoon, so that a maximum of 30 points could be achieved^a				15 + 15 = 30
Sleep disturbance	1	Each scratching episode leading to excoriation during the night; max = 5		5
	2	Each episode of waking up due to itching; max = 10		10
For each time, i.e., morning, evening, and night with itching, 1 point added to score. Max = 1 + 1 + 1 = 3^b				3
Total score				48

^aFor example; in patients who showed maximal frequency both in the morning and afternoon their score for frequency was calculated as 5 + 5 = 10. ^bFor example; if a patient had an itching experience through the morning and evening that affected his sleep, 2 points were added to the total score.

Table 2.  Pruritus severity based on pruritic score.

Treatment status		Chemical	Non-chemical	p-value
Pruritus severity (total score)		34.1 ± 12.3	30.1 ± 12.3	> 0.05
Pruritus score	Mild	6 (16.68)^a	9 (25)	> 0.05
	Moderate	11 (30.55)	12 (33.33)
	Severe	19 (52.77)	15 (41.67)

^aValues shown are number of patients with designation; percentage of the total group with that designation is in parenthese.

Table 3.  Blood cells analysis in the two study groups.

Parameters	Chemical	Non-chemical	p-value
WBC count^a	7126 ± 211	8228 ± 234	< 0.05
Neutrophil (%)	62.4 ± 6.9	62.5 ± 6.2	> 0.05
Lymphocytes (%)	33.6 ± 6.7	33.3 ± 6.2	> 0.05
Monocytes (%)	2.6 ± 1.2	3.1 ± 1.2	> 0.05
Eosinophil (%)	1.3 ± 1.4	1.1 ± 1.5	> 0.05
Basophil (%)	0.0 ± 0.0	0.03 ± 0.2	> 0.05

^aValue in terms of the calculated number of white blood cells/µl blood.

Table 4.  Cytokine concentration in the two groups.

Cytokines	Chemical	Non-chemical	p-value
IFNγ (pg/ml)
Mitogen^a	57.4 ± 32.4	101.7 ± 25.1	< 0.01
Nil^b	33.5 ± 6.3	15.4 ± 4.1	< 0.05
[Mitogen] – [Nil]	23.9 ± 26.1	86.3 ± 21.0	< 0.001
TGF-β (pg/ml)^b	206.1 ± 28.7	417.9 ± 34.5	< 0.05
TNFα (pg/ml)^b	15.9 ± 6.9	0.5 ± 0.1	< 0.001

Serum isolated from ^aPHA-stimulated or ^bunstimulated cells were measured.

Table 5.  Correlation between concentration of each cytokine and pruritus severity.

Cytokines	Chemical		Non-chemical
	r	p-value	r	p-value
IFNγ (pg/ml)
Mitogen^a	0.31	< 0.05	0.45	< 0.01
Nil^b	0.49	< 0.010	0.33	> 0.05
TGFβ (pg/ml)^b	0.33	< 0.05	0.34	> 0.05
TNFα (pg/ml)^b	0.66	< 0.001	0.31	> 0.05

Serum isolated from ^aPHA-stimulated or ^bunstimulated cells were measured.