Tomita M, Holman B J, Santoro T J
Department of Medicine, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, OH 43614, USA.
Neurosci Lett. 2001 Apr 20;302(2-3):129-32. doi: 10.1016/s0304-3940(01)01679-2.
Cytokines are important mediators of immune regulation and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the neurological disturbances, which occur in up to sixty percent of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE is an autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of autoantibodies against nuclear antigens, including native DNA. Cytokines are thought to drive autoantibody production in lupus. Certain of the derangements in memory and learning described in human and experimental SLE map to the hippocampus. The current study examines the expression of cytokine genes in the hippocampus in lupus, using MRL-lpr/lpr mice as the experimental model. These mice spontaneously develop a SLE-like illness accompanied by disturbances in spatial learning. Our results suggest a potential role for proinflammatory cytokines in the cognitive aberrations observed in lupus.
细胞因子是免疫调节的重要介质，并且与神经功能紊乱的发病机制有关，这种神经功能紊乱在高达60%的系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）患者中出现。SLE是一种自身免疫性疾病，其特征是存在针对核抗原（包括天然DNA）的自身抗体。细胞因子被认为在狼疮中驱动自身抗体的产生。在人类和实验性SLE中描述的某些记忆和学习紊乱与海马体有关。本研究以MRL-lpr/lpr小鼠作为实验模型，检测狼疮小鼠海马体中细胞因子基因的表达。这些小鼠自发发生类似SLE的疾病，并伴有空间学习障碍。我们的结果表明促炎细胞因子在狼疮中观察到的认知异常中可能发挥作用。
