Investigation the correlation between pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8) and bacterial urinary tract infections in patients in Hilla City, Iraq
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32792/utq/utjsci/v13i1.1564Keywords:
Urinary tract infection; IL-8; IL-6.Abstract
One of the most prevalent bacterial infections in the world, urinary tract infections are linked to rising antibiotic resistance. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) are proinflammatory cytokines that are vital to the host immune response and may be used as biomarkers of the severity, and prognosis of infections.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship among IL-1β , IL-6 and IL-8 levels in patients with bacterial UTIs and compare their profiles with those of healthy control.
A total of 120 participants were included in this study, comprising 60 patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) and 60 healthy controls. The age of participants ranged from 17 to 55 years. Each group included 56 females and 4 males. Samples were collected from Al-Mahaweel General Hospital and Merjan Teaching Hospital. Like Clinical evaluation urinalysis bacterial culture and identification were performed and urine cytokine concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Seriously Statistical analyzes assessed differences between groups and relationships between cytokines.
Urinary tract infection patients showed significant differences in urinalysis parameters, nitrite positivity was detected in 71.7% and Escherichia coli was identified as the dominant pathogen. IL-1β and IL-8 levels were significantly increased in patients compared to controls (P < 0.001), while IL-6 showed a non-significant trend towards higher levels. Correlation analysis showed strong positive cytokine associations in healthy individuals, but weaker or partially disrupted associations in UTI patients, suggesting altered immune regulation during infection.
Received: 02-09-2025
Revised: 26-03-2026
Accepted: 27-03-2026
References
L. Huang, C. Huang, Y. Yan, L. Sun, and H. Li, "Urinary tract infection etiological profiles and antibiotic resistance patterns varied among different age categories: a retrospective study from a tertiary general hospital during a 12-year period," Frontiers in microbiology, vol. 12, p. 813145, 2022.
S. Shruti and R. Rajasekaran, "Identification of therapeutic peptide scaffold from tritrpticin family for urinary tract infections using in silico techniques," Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, vol. 38, pp. 4407-4417, 2020.
B. Long and A. Koyfman, "The emergency department diagnosis and management of urinary tract infection," Emergency Medicine Clinics, vol. 36, pp. 685-710, 2018.
M. Tang, K. Quanstrom, C. Jin, and A. M. Suskind, "Recurrent urinary tract infections are associated with frailty in older adults," Urology, vol. 123, pp. 24-27, 2019.
T. Ebrahimzadeh, U. Basu, K. C. Lutz, J. Gadhvi, J. V. Komarovsky, Q. Li, et al., "Inflammatory markers for improved recurrent UTI diagnosis in postmenopausal women," Life Science Alliance, vol. 7, 2024.
M. Akhlaghpour, E. Haley, L. Parnell, N. Luke, M. Mathur, R. A. Festa, et al., "Urine biomarkers individually and as a consensus model show high sensitivity and specificity for detecting UTIs," BMC Infectious Diseases, vol. 24, p. 153, 2024.
J.-H. Jung, H. J. Hong, A. Gharderpour, J. Y. Cho, B.-S. Baek, Y. Hur, et al., "Differential interleukin-1β induction by uropathogenic Escherichia coli correlates with its phylotype and serum C-reactive protein levels in Korean infants," Scientific Reports, vol. 9, p. 15654, 2019.
N. R. Sproston and J. J. Ashworth, "Role of C-reactive protein at sites of inflammation and infection," Frontiers in immunology, vol. 9, p. 754, 2018.
P. J. Habak, K. Carlson, and R. P. Griggs Jr, "Urinary tract infection in pregnancy," in StatPearls [Internet], ed: StatPearls Publishing, 2024.
P. F. Farag, H. O. Albulushi, M. H. Eskembaji, M. F. Habash, M. S. Malki, M. S. Albadrani, et al., "Prevalence and antibiotic resistance profile of UTI-causing uropathogenic bacteria in diabetics and non-diabetics at the Maternity and Children Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia," Frontiers in Microbiology, vol. 15, p. 1507505, 2024.
C.-I. Anton, I. Ștefan, M. Zamfir, C. F. Ghiațău, C. S. Sima, C. L. Osman, et al., "Etiology and risk factors of recurrent urinary tract infections in women in a Multidisciplinary Hospital in Romania," Microorganisms, vol. 13, p. 626, 2025.
M. S. Mohamed and N. A. Nassir, "Prevalence of urinary tract infection and associated factors among pregnant women attending the obstetric clinic of Baghdad Teaching Hospital, 2023–2024," Iraqi Journal of Community Medicine, vol. 38, pp. 68-74, 2025.
R. B. Moreland, L. Brubaker, L. Tinawi, and A. J. Wolfe, "Rapid and accurate testing for urinary tract infection: new clothes for the emperor," Clinical microbiology reviews, vol. 38, pp. e00129-24, 2025.
E. Haley and N. Luke, "From awareness to action: pioneering solutions for women’s UTI challenges in the era of precision medicine," International journal of women's health, pp. 1595-1605, 2024.
D. Hernández-Hernández, B. Padilla-Fernández, M. Y. Ortega-González, and D. M. Castro-Díaz, "Recurrent urinary tract infections and asymptomatic bacteriuria in adults," Current Bladder Dysfunction Reports, vol. 17, pp. 1-12, 2022.
A. H. Q. Al-Saowdy and I. S. Abbas, "Investigation of Interleukine-1 Beta in Urinary Tract Infection Patients," Journal of Pioneering Medical Sciences, vol. 13, pp. 46-50, 2024.
M. A. Ahmed, M. M. Ahmed, and A. J. Ali, "Levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in Complicated versus Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infection," Journal of Chemistry Studies, vol. 3, pp. 21-25, 2024.
M. Akhlaghpour, E. Haley, L. Parnell, N. Luke, M. Mathur, R. A. Festa, et al., "Urine biomarkers individually and as a consensus model show high sensitivity and specificity for detecting UTIs," BMC Infectious Diseases, vol. 24, p. 153, 2024
. S. Abbas, N. Mahdi, and K. Ahmed, "Blood Groups, IL-6, IL-8 and HS-CRP Levels in Non-Pregnant Women With Urinary Tract Infection Caused by Escherichia coli," INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, vol. 5, pp. 33-43, 2022..
. G. Krzemień, A. Szmigielska, A. Turczyn, and M. Pańczyk-Tomaszewska, "Urine interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and transforming growth factor β1 in infants with urinary tract infection and asymptomatic bacteriuria," Central European Journal of Immunology, vol. 41, pp. 260-267, 2016.
. A. A. Al-Eisa, M. Al Rushood, and R. J. Al-Attiyah, "Urinary excretion of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 cytokines during relapse and remission of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome," Journal of inflammation research, pp. 1-5, 2017.
. A. Abbas, A. Lichtman, and S. Pillai, "Innate immunity, p 73," Cellular and molecular immunology, 10th ed. Elsevier Saunders, Philadelphia, 2021.
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2026 University of Thi-Qar Journal of Science
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
