Interleukin-27 affects IFN-gamma and IL-4 activities in children with asthma / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of interleukin (IL)-27 on INF and IL-4 activities in children with asthma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The levels of IFN-gamma and IL-4 in culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 23 asthmatic children were measured using ELISA. PBMCs were cultured with recombinant IL-27 (5 ng/mL or 0.5 ng/mL) for 12 hrs in vitro.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>IFN-gamma levels in both 5 ng/mL and 0.5 ng/mL IL-27 treatment groups (85.9+/-12.2 and 8.9+/-2.3 microg/L, respectively) increased compared with those in the cytokine stimulated control group (P<0.01, P<0.05 respectively). The group treated with 5 ng/mL IL-27 had decreased significantly IL-4 levels compared with the cytokine stimulated control group (15.0+/-1.9 microg/L vs 77.0+/-15.6 microg/L; P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>IL-27 may be involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. It may affect Th1/Th2 cell activities and might be a new option for the treatment of asthma.</p>

Concentrations of serum iron and transferrin in children with nephrotic syndrome / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is characterized by marked urinary excretion of albumin and other intermediated-size plasma proteins such as transferrin. The aim of this study was to determine the changes of serum iron and transferrin and the relationship between the serum and urinary transferrin.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The indexes related to iron metabolism, including serum iron, ferritin, transferrin, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin saturation and hematological parameters (Hb, MCV, MCH), and urinary transferrin were measured in 37 children with NS before treatment and at the remission stage. Thirty-five age-matched healthy children served as controls.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum iron levels (18.8 +/- 3.8 micromol/L) in NS patients before treatment were significantly lower than in the healthy controls (22.2 +/-3.8 micromol/L) and those measured at the remission stage (21.0 +/- 3.5 micromol/L) (P < 0.01). Serum transferrin levels in NS patients before therapy (1.9 +/- 0.3 g/L) also decreased compared with those in the healthy controls (3.1 +/- 0.5 g/L) and those measured at the remission stage (2.9 +/- 0.6 g/L) (P < 0.01). In contrast, serum total iron-binding capacity and transferrin saturation were noticeably higher in NS patients before treatment than those in the healthy controls (total iron-binding capacity 56.4 +/- 9.2 micromol/L vs 50.7 +/- 6.8 micromol, P < 0.01; transferrin saturation 55.7 +/- 9.2 % vs 46.4 +/- 8.2%, P < 0.01) and were also higher than those measured at the remission stage (51.9 +/-7.7 micromol/L and 47.4 +/- 13.3%) (P < 0.01). Serum transferrin positively correlated to serum albumin (r = 0.609, P < 0.01) and negatively correlated to urinary transferrin (r = -0.550, P < 0.01) in NS patients before treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Serum iron and transferrin levels markedly decreased in NS patients, which may be partially related to the urinary loss of transferrin.</p>

Significance of Changes of Interleukin-18 Expression Levels of Serum and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Children with Steroid-Sensitive Nephrotic Syndrome / 实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To investigate the relationship between the steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome(SSNS) and interleukin-18(IL-18) and to approach the inhibitive role of dexamethasone(DEX) on expression of IL-18 of peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) in children with SSNS in vitro.Methods IL-18 levels of serum, urine and supernatants of PBMC cultured in vitro were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) in 23 children with SSNS who were either before or after treatment. Fifteen age-matched healthy children served as normal control group, and another 18 children with respiratory infections as infectious control group.Results There were signi-ficant differences of IL-18 in serum and urine before and after treatment in children with SSNS (t=15.072,16.149 Pa