Vincent Fabien B, Northcott Melissa, Hoi Alberta, Mackay Fabienne, Morand Eric F
Arthritis Res Ther. 2013 Aug 23;15(4):R97. doi: 10.1186/ar4277.
Serum interleukin (IL)-17 concentrations have been reported to be increased in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but associations with clinical characteristics are not well understood. We characterized clinical associations of serum IL-17 in SLE.
We quantified IL-17 in serum samples from 98 SLE patients studied cross-sectionally, and in 246 samples from 75 of these patients followed longitudinally over two years. Disease activity was recorded using the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI)-2k. Serum IL-6, migration inhibitory factor (MIF), and B cell activating factor of the tumour necrosis factor family (BAFF) were also measured in these samples.
Serum IL-17 levels were significantly higher in SLE patients compared to healthy donors (P <0.0001). No correlation was observed between serum IL-17 and SLEDAI-2k, at baseline or during longitudinal follow-up. However, we observed that SLEDAI-2k was positively correlated with IL-17/IL-6 ratio. Serum IL-17 was significantly increased in SLE patients with central nervous system (CNS) disease (P = 0.0298). A strong correlation was observed between serum IL-17 and IL-6 (r = 0.62, P <0.0001), and this relationship was observed regardless of disease activity and persisted when integrating cytokine levels over the period observed (r = 0.66, P <0.0001). A strong correlation of serum IL-17 was also observed with serum BAFF (r = 0.64, P <0.0001), and MIF (r = 0.36, P = 0.0016).
Serum IL-17 concentration correlates poorly with SLE disease activity but is significantly elevated in patients with CNS disease. IL-17/IL-6 ratio may be more useful than IL-17 or IL-6 alone to characterize Th17-driven disease, such as SLE. The association of other cytokines with serum IL-17 suggests that IL-17 may drive activation of diverse immune pathways in SLE.
据报道，系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）患者血清白细胞介素（IL）-17浓度升高，但与临床特征的关联尚不清楚。我们对SLE患者血清IL-17的临床关联进行了特征分析。
我们对98例进行横断面研究的SLE患者的血清样本以及其中75例患者在两年内进行纵向随访的246份样本中的IL-17进行了定量分析。使用SLE疾病活动指数（SLEDAI）-2k记录疾病活动情况。还对这些样本中的血清IL-6、迁移抑制因子（MIF）和肿瘤坏死因子家族的B细胞活化因子（BAFF）进行了检测。
与健康供者相比，SLE患者的血清IL-17水平显著更高（P<0.0001）。在基线或纵向随访期间，未观察到血清IL-17与SLEDAI-2k之间存在相关性。然而，我们观察到SLEDAI-2k与IL-17/IL-6比值呈正相关。患有中枢神经系统（CNS）疾病的SLE患者血清IL-17显著升高（P = 0.0298）。观察到血清IL-17与IL-6之间存在强相关性（r = 0.62，P<0.0001），无论疾病活动情况如何均观察到这种关系，并且在观察期间整合细胞因子水平时这种关系仍然存在（r = 0.66，P<0.0001）。还观察到血清IL-17与血清BAFF（r = 0.64，P<0.0001）和MIF（r = 0.36，P = 0.0016）之间存在强相关性。
血清IL-17浓度与SLE疾病活动的相关性较差，但在CNS疾病患者中显著升高。IL-17/IL-6比值可能比单独的IL-17或IL-6更有助于表征Th17驱动的疾病，如SLE。其他细胞因子与血清IL-17的关联表明，IL-17可能驱动SLE中多种免疫途径的激活。
