Role of study on cytokine profiling in class V lupus nephritis from the perspective of systemic biology / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effects of cytokines Th1 and Th2 in Class V lupus nephritis (V-LN). Methods Serum concentration of Th1 cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-1, IL-2 and TNF-α) and Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-13) were simultaneously analyzed using fast quant human Th1/Th2 protein array, and Pearson analysis was used to evaluate the association between cytokines and clinical parameters. Results ① Cytokine profiling Among the 9 cytokines detected simultaneously by fast quant human Th1/Th2 protein array, the expression of four cytokines was up-regulated obviously, namely, Th1 cytokines (IL-2) and Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-10 and IL-13); that of IL-10 was 10 times above the normal control. ② Pearson correlation analysis: There was a positive correlation between IL-10 and SLEDAI (r=0.877, P<0.01), but a negative correlation between IL-10 and hemoglobin concentration (r=-0.856, P<0.01). There was also a negative correlation between IL-4 and 24h urine protein (r=-0.754, P<0.05), between IL-13 and 24h urine protein (r=-0.769, P<0.05). Besides, IL-1 and creatinine were positively correlated (r=0.784, P<0.05). Conclusion There were extensively abnormal Th2 cytokines in V-LN patients, suggesting that anti-Th2 therapy may produce a marked effect on V-LN.