ABSTRACT
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a crucial role in systemic autoimmunity and pathologic inflammation. Numerous studies have explored serum IL-6 levels in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and their correlation with disease activity. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to quantitatively assess the correlation between the serum IL-6 levels and SLE activity. The PubMed and EMBASE databases were thoroughly searched for relevant studies up to September 2019. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to describe the differences between serum IL-6 levels in SLE patients and healthy controls and between those in active SLE patients and inactive SLE patients. The correlation between the serum IL-6 levels and disease activity was evaluated using Fisher's z values. A total of 24 studies involving 1817 SLE patients and 874 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. Serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in SLE patients than in the healthy controls (pooled SMD: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.21-3.03, Active SLE patients had higher serum IL-6 levels than inactive SLE patients (pooled SMD: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.21-3.03). Furthermore, the pooled Fisher's z values (pooled Fisher's z=0.36, 95% CI: 0.26-0.46, p<0.01) showed that there was a positive correlation between the serum IL-6 levels and SLE activity. This study suggested that serum IL-6 levels were higher in patients with SLE than in healthy controls, and they were positively correlated with disease activity when Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index>4 was defined as active SLE. More homogeneous studies with large sample sizes are warranted to confirm our findings due to several limitations in our meta-analysis.
Subject(s)
Humans , Interleukin-6 , Lupus Erythematosus, SystemicABSTRACT
Anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody (Sc7301)-paclitaxel (TAX) immunoconjugate was prepared and its specific binding to tumor cells was investigated in this study.Sc7301 was conjugated to TAX by the active ester method and then the TAX-Sc7301 immunoconjugate was obtained.After purification and labeling by Cyano-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC),the specific binding of TAX-Sc7301to HER2-positive tumor cells (SKOV3) and HER2-negative tumor cells (HepG2) was evaluated respectively.TAX-Sc7301 (20 nmol/L) showed distinct specific binding to SKOV3 cells rather than HepG2cells.And the uptake of the immunoconjugate by SKOV3 cells was increased with the TAX-Sc7301concentration (3-48 nmol/L) and the incubation time (P＜0.05).It was concluded that the TAX-Sc7301immunoconjugate is potentially applicable as a targeted agent against HER2-positive tumor cells.