Rotavirus infection is considered to be one of the zoonotic diseases, transmitted
between humans and animals. The present study aimed to investigate the association
between cytokine (IL-2, IL-6 and INF-γ) levels with Rotavirus VP7 gene distribution
in humans and cattle by using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Enzyme Linked
Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Faecal samples (54) and 54 blood samples were
collected from each diarrheic human and cattle. The PCR-VP7 results revealed that
VP7-PCR positivity was observed in 12 human stool(22.2%) and 14 cattle faecal
samples (25.9%). Non-significant effect (P>0.05) for human sex on Rota virusVP7
distribution, and (23.3%) of Rota virusVP7 detection was observed in males compared
to females (20.8%). Significant effect (P<0.05) for cattle sex on Rota virus VP7
distribution, and a higher percentage (47.1%) of Rota virus VP7 infection in cattle was
observed in females compared to males (16.2%). Non-significant effect (P>0.05) for
human and cattle age was observed in this study. A higher percentage of Rota virus VP7
infection was observed in humans and cattle (23.5 and 34.6 % respectively) in the age
group less than 5 years. ELISA-based IL-6, IL-2 and INF-γ results revealed that
Positive cases with VP7 did not differ significantly by species, age, or sex. among the
measured cytokines, only IL-6 in cattle showed a significant elevation in VP7-positive
cases compared with VP7-negative controls (356.87±156.13 vs. 40.84±40.84 pg/mL, p
= 0.020).