Tang Jian-ping, Gu Yue-ying, Shen Nan, Qian Jie, Chen Xiao-xiang, Huang Xin-fang, Huang Xiang-yang, Liang Dong, Guo Qiang, Yang Cheng-de, Bao Chun-de, Chen Shun-le
Shanghai Clinical Center of Rheumatic Diseases and Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai 200001, China.
Zhonghua Nei Ke Za Zhi. 2005 Feb;44(2):106-10.
To investigate the expression levels of interferon (IFN)-alpha, -beta, -omega and -gamma genes and proteins in the peripheral blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to evaluate any possible connections between these expression levels with clinical features.
144 SLE patients, 27 non-SLE patients with rheumatisms and 59 normal controls were recruited for the research, and all subjects were drawn blood to isolate plasma and elute total RNA. SYBR Green Dye based real-time quantitative PCR method was used to compare the expression levels of 4 IFNs in patients with SLE and those in the controls. The significance for the correlation of these expression levels and disease activity and specificity was studied.
(1) mRNA expression levels of all 4 IFNs in SLE patients were remarkably lower than those observed in normal controls (P < 0.01 in all); IFN-alpha expression levels in SLE patients were increased than those observed in non-SLE group (P < 0.01). (2) The expression levels of all 4 IFNs in active SLE patients were similar to those observed in inactive SLE patients (P > 0.05 in all), and expression levels of all 4 IFNs in patients with SLE were not correlated with involvements of kidney, lung, brain, blood. (3) IFN score in SLE patients was remarkably lower than that observed in normal controls (P < 0.01). (4) The expression levels of all 4 IFNs in both SLE patients and normal controls were positively correlated with each other (P < 0.01 in all). (5) Protein levels of IFN-alpha, IFN-beta and IFN-omega in patients with SLE were similar to those observed in normal group (P > 0.05 in all), protein level of IFN-alpha in active SLE group was apparently elevated than in inactive SLE group (P < 0.01), and protein level of IFN-gamma has a trend to increase in SLE group than in normal group.
Decreased expression levels of IFN-alpha, -beta, -omega and -gamma have implicated significance in the determination of SLE disease specificity, of which IFN-alpha is the best. Lower expression level of IFN score has also significance in the determination of SLE disease specificity. Higher protein level of IFN-alpha is helpful to judging SLE disease activity.
研究系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）患者外周血中干扰素（IFN）-α、-β、-ω和-γ基因及蛋白的表达水平，并评估这些表达水平与临床特征之间的可能联系。
招募144例SLE患者、27例非SLE风湿性疾病患者和59例正常对照者进行研究，所有受试者均采血以分离血浆并提取总RNA。采用基于SYBR Green染料的实时定量PCR方法比较SLE患者和对照者中4种IFN的表达水平。研究这些表达水平与疾病活动度及特异性相关性的意义。
（1）SLE患者中所有4种IFN的mRNA表达水平均显著低于正常对照者（均P<0.01）；SLE患者中IFN-α的表达水平高于非SLE组（P<0.01）。（2）活动期SLE患者中所有4种IFN的表达水平与非活动期SLE患者相似（均P>0.05），SLE患者中所有4种IFN的表达水平与肾脏、肺、脑、血液受累情况无关。（3）SLE患者的IFN评分显著低于正常对照者（P<0.01）。（4）SLE患者和正常对照者中所有4种IFN的表达水平均呈正相关（均P<0.01）。（5）SLE患者中IFN-α、IFN-β和IFN-ω的蛋白水平与正常组相似（均P>0.05），活动期SLE组中IFN-α的蛋白水平明显高于非活动期SLE组（P<0.01），SLE组中IFN-γ的蛋白水平有高于正常组的趋势。
IFN-α、-β、-ω和-γ表达水平降低在SLE疾病特异性的判定中具有重要意义，其中IFN-α最佳。IFN评分较低在SLE疾病特异性的判定中也具有重要意义。较高的IFN-α蛋白水平有助于判断SLE疾病活动度。
