Effect of artesunate on OAZ gene expressions in MRL/lpr lupus mice / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the in vivo effects of artesunate (ART) treatment on OAZ gene expressions in MRL/lpr lupus mice.Methods Twenty-four 12-week-old female MRL/lpr lupus mice were randomly divided into two groups by the random number table,i.e.,the lupus control group and the ART treatment group,12 in each group.Besides,another 8 BABL/C mice were recruited as the normal control group.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were collected from lupus mice before treatment as well as 4 week and 8 week after treatment,and RNA was extracted and reverse transcripted to cDNA.mRNA expression levels of OAZ and Id1-3 were measured by using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR),and the data between the two groups were analyzed by t test,a plurality of samples were compared with the single factor analysis of variance.Serum levels of IFN-γ,IL-4,BAFF and ANA were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Relationships of the gene expression levels with levels of cytokines and ANA were analyzed.Statistical analysis were uising t test,ANOVA and LSD-t test.Results mRNA expression levels of OAZ,Id1 and Id3 gene (△Ct12.9±0.8,12.0±0.4,10.2±0.8) in lupus mice were significantly different from 8 weeks after the treatment comparing to those in the lupus control group (△Ct9.8±1.0,9.3± 1.1,8.1±0.8) and the normal control group (△Ct13.9±1.2,11.4±0.7,4.7±0.8,10.3±1.0)(F=7.46,P=0.008; F=6.37,P=0.032; F=5.63,P=0.042),and alteration of OAZ mRNA expression levels before and after the treatment were positively correlated with changes of Id1,Id3 levels (r=0.867,0.947; P＜0.05),and levels of IL-4 and ANA were significantly lower 8 weeks after the treatment than those in the lupus control group (P＜0.05); while level of IFN-γwas higher than those in the lupus control group (P＜0.05).Alteration of OAZ mRNA expression levels before and after the treatment were negatively correlated with changes of ANA,BAFF levels (r=-0.955,r=-0.937; P＜0.05) and positively correlated with changes of Th1/Th2 levels (r=0.976,P＜0.01).Conclusion The expression of genes involving in the OAZ and downstream gene are effectively reduced along with the alteration of several cytokines and ANA after ART treatment.OAZ signaling pathway can play an important role in ART treatment for SLE.