Relationship between levels of serum IL-34 and disease activity of systemic lupus erythematosus / 中国免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate levels of serum IL-34 in SLE patients,and correlation between concentrations of serum IL-34 and other established serum markers and disease activity indexes.Methods: In all,78 SLE patients and 53 healthy controls were enrolled in the research.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was employed to measuring the concentrations of serological IL-34.Then,serum IL-34 levels between SLE group and healthy controls were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test.Meanwhile,the correlation between the serum IL-34 levels and disease activity indexes and other established serum markers were assessed.Serum IL-34 levels were significantly higher in SLE patients compared to healthy controls[(Median,128.9 pg/ml) vs (Median,52.4 pg/ml),P<0.001].Results: Their levels were remarkably associated with accumulation of the clinical features of SLE.Additionally,IL-34 titers were positively correlated with the SLE disease activity indexes,anti-double stranded DNA antibody(anti-dsDNA)titers and C-reactive protein(CRP)levels,but inversely with C3 levels.Conclusion: Serum IL-34 could be a candidate biomarker for SLE as the elevated serum levels in treatment-naive SLE patients and its association with SLE disease activity.