To evaluate the balance status of interleukin 18 （IL-18） and interleukin 18 binding protein （IL-18BP） in circulation in patients with lupus nephritis （LN） and primary nephrotic syndrome （PNS）, plasma levels as...To evaluate the balance status of interleukin 18 （IL-18） and interleukin 18 binding protein （IL-18BP） in circulation in patients with lupus nephritis （LN） and primary nephrotic syndrome （PNS）, plasma levels as well as mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells （PBMCs） of IL-18 and IL-18BP were measured by ELISA and RT-PCR respectively. The ratio of IL-18/IL-18BP was also calculated. Both plasma IL-18 and IL-18BP increased significantly in LN patients while only IL-18BP increased in PNS, which resulted in an elevated ratio of IL-18/IL-18BP in LN but not in PNS patients when compared with normal controls. In contrast, increased level of IL-18 mRNA was only detected in LN but not in PNS group, although IL-18BP mRNA expressions in PBMCs in both groups were higher than that in control. The imbalance of IL-18 and IL-18BP might be involved in the pathogenesis of LN, based on which a therapeutic approach is valuable to be developed for LN.展开更多
基金supported by a grant from Guangdong Natural Science Foundation(5011589)a PhD scholarship of Guangdong Medical College(200301).
文摘To evaluate the balance status of interleukin 18 （IL-18） and interleukin 18 binding protein （IL-18BP） in circulation in patients with lupus nephritis （LN） and primary nephrotic syndrome （PNS）, plasma levels as well as mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells （PBMCs） of IL-18 and IL-18BP were measured by ELISA and RT-PCR respectively. The ratio of IL-18/IL-18BP was also calculated. Both plasma IL-18 and IL-18BP increased significantly in LN patients while only IL-18BP increased in PNS, which resulted in an elevated ratio of IL-18/IL-18BP in LN but not in PNS patients when compared with normal controls. In contrast, increased level of IL-18 mRNA was only detected in LN but not in PNS group, although IL-18BP mRNA expressions in PBMCs in both groups were higher than that in control. The imbalance of IL-18 and IL-18BP might be involved in the pathogenesis of LN, based on which a therapeutic approach is valuable to be developed for LN.
