Objective  To explore the effect of serum interleukin-33 (IL-33) on the development and clinical outcomes of adult measles patients with liver damage.

  Methods  A total of 256 adult measles patients in our hospital were selected as study objects, among whom 136 patients with liver damage were selected as observation group and 120 patients without liver damage were selected as control group. Another 80 healthy subjects who conducted physical examination in our hospital at the same time were selected as the healthy control group. According to liver preservation or not, the observation group was further divided into liver preservation group(n=88) and liver un-preservation group(n=48). Serum IL-33 levels were measured in observation group, control group and healthy control group. Serum indicators such as alanine aminotransferase, glutamyltransferase, and IL-33 were detected and compared between liver preservation group and liver non-preservation group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed on the factors that may affect the levels of IL-33 in liver damage patients.

  Results  The serum IL-33 level of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group and the healthy control group (P < 0.05); there were no significant difference in the levels of alanine aminotransferase and glutamyltransferase between liver preservation group and liver non-preservation group at admission and 7 d after admission (P>0.05). At 14 d after admission, the levels of alanine aminotransferase, glutamyltransferase and IL-33 in liver preservation group were significantly lower than those in the liver un-preservation group (P < 0.05). Alanine aminotransferase, glutamyltransferase and IL-33 were independent risk factors for measles patients with liver damage.

  Conclusion  Serum IL-33 has an important predictive effect on the degree of liver damage in adult measles patients, and it is of great significance in treatment of patients′ disease, and is key predictors for the development and clinical outcomes of the disease.