It is possible that patients with high blood
glucose levels have impaired cytokine responses, at
least in terms of reduced production of IL-17, probably
by activated T cells. In Thailand, type 2 diabetes
mellitus is more common than type 1 diabetes mellitus
and in our centre almost all of the patients are
type 2. Although the sample size was small, we obtained
consistent results that were confirmed by statistical
analysis. This finding supports a previous
study that diabetes is associated with a dysregulation
of the cytokine production in response to bacterial
infection17.