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Backgrounds: The influenza virus is one of the major pathogens that seriously affect human health. It can cause a strong immune response and trigger a series of complications. Interleukin 37 (IL-37) is a newly discovered cytokine that plays an important regulatory role in infection and immunity. To date, there have been few studies on the correlation between influenza virus infection and IL-37., Methods: Serum levels of IL-37 in 115 patients with influenza A virus (IAV) infection and 102 healthy subjects were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect differences in IL-37 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) between IAV patients and healthy subjects. IL-37 expression was measured in A549 cells and PBMCs infected with IAV H3N2 using ELISA and RT-qPCR. After the H3N2-infected A549 cells were treated with human IL-37, the concentration of viral RNA was determined using RT-qPCR, and the titer of influenza virus was determined by a hemagglutination test., Results: The IL-37 levels in the sera and PBMCs of patients infected with IAV were higher than those of healthy subjects. The expression of IL-37 mRNA and protein in IAV-infected A549 cells and PBMCs was upregulated, and IL-37 protein was able to inhibit the replication of IAV RNA., Conclusion: IAV-induced IL-37 expression inhibits IAV replication., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Several polymorphisms in the interleukin-18 (IL-18) gene and plasma IL-18 levels have been reported to influence hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, the published findings have been conflicting. We conducted meta-analyses of randomized, controlled trials to address the association of IL-18 polymorphisms and plasma IL-18 levels and the outcomes of HCV infection. The results showed that there was no evidence for an association between the HCV infections and the polymorphisms genotypes of IL-18. However, plasma IL-18 levels were found higher in HCV infection patients than in healthy controls. The pooled SMD was 2.911(95% CI 2.556-3.265, z = 16.09, P < 0.001).