The role of absent in melanoma 2 in the pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus associated glomerulonephritis / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo explore the role of activation and expression of absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) in pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) associated glomerulonephritis (HBV-GN).MethodsFifty-four patients with HBV-GN were recruited into the investigational group,and 25 patients with chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) and 6 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) were included as negative control group and positive control group,respectively.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect AIM2,Caspase-1 and interleukin (IL)-1β expressions in both kidney tissues from the investigational group and negative control group and liver tissues from positive control group.The differences between groups were compared by chi-square test,and the correlation analysis was conducted by Spearman correlation test.ResultsThe positive expression rates of AIM2 in 54 patients of HBV-GN group and 25 of CGN group were 81.4 ％ and 4.0％,respectively (x2 =38.746,P＜ 0.01).AIM2 was found to be expressed in all 6 CHB patients.In HBV-GN group,the expression of AIM2 was positively correlated with Caspase-1 (rs =0.444,P＜0.01),and the expression of IL-1β was also positively correlated with Caspase-1 (rs =0.515,P＜0.01 ).In HBV-GN group,the expression of AIM2 in patients with HBV DNA≥1 ×105 copy/mL was significantly higher than that in those with HBV DNA＜1 × 105 copy/mL (x2 =6.097,P＜0.05).ConclusionThe activation of AIM2 may play a role in the pathogenesis of HBV-GN through Caspase-1 activation and inflammatory factor IL-1β release.