The expression and significance of vascular endothelial growth factor and its soluble receptor sFlt-1 in the serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the serum concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptor 1 (sFlt-1) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its correlation with clinic and pathologic parameters.Methods serum levels of VEGF and sFlt-1 in a group of 60 patients with SLE and 30 healthy controls were assessed by ELISA.Results The VEGF and sFlt-1 serum levels were higher in active SLE group than the control group (P＜0.01).The VEGF/sFlt-1 ratio in the control group was lower than that in the active SLE group.inactive SLE group and LN group (P＜0.01).Particularly the ratio increased in WHO class Ⅴ LN group compared to WHO classⅡ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ LN group (P＜0.05).The semm level of sFlt-1 was correlated to proteinuria (rs=0.6244,P＜0.01) and ESR (rs=0.4235,P＜0.01) and the serum levels of VEGF and sFlt-1 were correlated to the systemic lupus erythematosus disease activation index (SLEDAI) (rs=0.5046,P＜0.01 and rs=0.5152,P＜0.01,respectively).The serum level of VEGF was correlated with renal tissue activation index (RAI) (rs=0.3386.P＜0.05) and the serum levels of VEGF and sFlt-1 were not correlated to blood pressure,serum creatine,blood ureanitmgen,C3,C4,C-reative protein.The muhi-factors stepwise regression analysis indicated that serum VEGF was positively correlated with SLEDAI (R2=0.1 75,P＜0.05),serum sFlt-1 was positively correlated with ESR and proteinurine (R2=0.497,P＜0.05).Conclusion Serum VEGF and sFlt-1 are elevated in patients with active SLE and they can reflect the activity of the disease.The overcxpression of serum VEGF might be correlated to the proliferated glomerulonephritis and the overexpression of sFlt-1 contribhtes to proteinurla.The imbalance between these two factors may act an important role in SLE pathogenesis.