Introduction:

Four out of ten major causes of death in the world are due to pulmonary pathologies where respiratory infections are in third place and in turn, are one of the main reasons for medical consultation. Interleukin (IL)-17 seems to have an important role in the immunopathogenesis of many diseases. Elevated levels of IL-17 in peripheral blood or other body fluids have been reported to be associated with metastases and infections. Likewise, the role that IL-17 has in the skin and intestinal pathology is clearly known, however; its role within pulmonary pathologies is controversial yet.

Objective:

To describe the current knowledge on the role of IL-17 in inflammatory processes and pulmonary pathologies.

Search Methodology:

A bibliographic search of original and review papers was carried out in the MEDLINE and Science Direct database, in which 50 articles matched the inclusion criteria.

Conclusions:

The response involving IL-17 in the lung seems to be related to a good prognosis in the case of some bacterial pneumonia. Blocking the IL-17 signaling pathway in lung cancer could be beneficial and is considered as a potential therapeutic target under these conditions, so studies on this subject must be continued to better understand the true role of this protein in every pathologic lung condition. MÉD.UIS.2021;34(1): 55-62.

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