RESUMO
Objective To explore the expressions and clinical significance of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 3 and TLR4 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in Henoch-Schsnlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) children.Methods According to their 24-hour urinary albumin and whether children with HSP had renal damage or not,105 cases were divided into group A,B and C.Group A were children only with HSP but without renal damage,while group B were children only with HSPN not proteinuria and group C were children with both HSPN and proteinuria.Thirty healthy children were in healthy control group(group N).Flow cytometry (FCM) and real-time PCR detected the mRNA and protein expressions of TLR3 and TLR4 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.Results 1.The mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were significantly higher in group A,B,C than those in group N (F =37.33,24.01,all P ＜ 0.05).The mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4 in group C were much higher than those in group A and B (all P ＜ 0.05).Meanwhile,there was no significant difference between group A and B(all P ＞0.05).2.Moreover,there was a positive relationship between protein expression of TLR4 and 24-hour urinary albumin in group C(r =0.69,P ＜ 0.01).3.Expression of TLR3 was of no significant difference in all groups(F =0.86,1.78,all P ＞ 0.05).4.The expression of TLR4 mRNA had a positive correlation with protein expression of TLR4(r =0.61,P ＜ 0.0 1).Conclusions Expressions of TLR4 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells significantly increased and had a positive correlation with urinary protein excretion from HSPN in children.This implied that aberrant activation of TLR4might be relevant to the development of HSPN.
RESUMO
Objective To explore the role of TLR2 and TLR4 in the pathogenesis of Henoch-Schonlein purpura ( HSP) by investigating their expression at mRNA and protein levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( PBMCs ) and their influences on Th 1/Th2 immune response in children with HSP . Methods 64 hospitalized children with HSP in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Medical Col -lege from October 2011 to November 2012 were enrolled in the study .They were further divided into non-He-noch-Schonlein purpura nephritis ( NHSPN ) group ( n =36 ) and Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) group (n=28).30 age-matched healthy children from Child Health Division of the same hospital were selected as controls .The expression of TLR2 and TLR4 at mRNA level in PBMCs were detected by re-al-time fluorescent polymerase chain reaction .The expression of TLR2 and TLR4 at protein level and T cells subset were detected by flow cytometry .The levels of IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-6 in plasma were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results (1)Compared with the control group , the expres-sion of TLR2 and TLR4 at mRNA and protein levels were remarkably increased in children with HSP , espe-cially in HSPN group.(2)Compared with the control group, the percentage of CD3+T cells and CD3+CD4+T cells were down-regulated in HSP group , but the percentage of CD 3+CD8+T cells and CD3+HLADR+T cells were up-regulated.(3)The level of IFN-γand the ratio of IFN-γ/IL-4 in plasma from children with HSP were significantly lower than those of the controls , while the level of IL-4 and IL-6 were remarkably higher than those of the controls .(4)The expression of TLR2 and TLR4 at protein level in PBMCs from chil-dren with HSP showed significant positive correlations with the expression of TLR 2 and TLR4 at mRNA level and plasma concentration of IL-4 and IL-6, but a negative correlation with the ratio of IFN-γ/IL-4.Conclu-sions The aberrant activation of TLR 2 and TLR4 might be correlated with the immunological pathogenesis of HSP by enhancing Th2 immune response.The hyper-activation of TLR2 and TLR4 might result in renal injury in patients with HSP .