Lai Xiaofei, Wang Hongxu, Cao Ju, Li Ying, Dai Yubing, Xiang Yu, Zhang Liping
Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China.
Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA.
Molecules. 2016 Nov 18;21(11):1565. doi: 10.3390/molecules21111565.
Cytokines are key immunoregulatory molecules that regulate T lymphocyte-mediated immune responses and inflammatory reactions. We determined whether there is aberrant expression of interleukin-27 (IL-27) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and investigated the clinical significance of these changes. IL-27 is a key cellular factor that regulates the differentiation of CD4+ T cells, which can secrete interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) in vivo. Concentrations of serum IL-27 in 67 RA patients, and 36 sex- and age-matched control subjects were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results showed that concentrations of serum IL-27 in all RA patients were significantly higher than in healthy control subjects, and there was a significant and positive correlation between serum IL-27 levels and disease activity in all RA patients. Levels of serum IL-27 in RA patients were significantly correlated with disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28). Moreover, immunosuppressive treatment with leflunomide downregulated the levels of IL-27 in active RA patients. Therefore, the elevated production of circulating T cell inflammatory factors contributes to the pathogenesis of RA, and serum IL-27 could potentially serve as a new biomarker of RA disease activity.
细胞因子是调节T淋巴细胞介导的免疫反应和炎症反应的关键免疫调节分子。我们确定类风湿关节炎（RA）患者中白细胞介素-27（IL-27）是否存在异常表达，并研究这些变化的临床意义。IL-27是调节CD4+T细胞分化的关键细胞因子，CD4+T细胞在体内可分泌白细胞介素-10（IL-10）和白细胞介素-17（IL-17）。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法检测67例RA患者和36例年龄、性别相匹配的对照者血清IL-27浓度。结果显示，所有RA患者血清IL-27浓度均显著高于健康对照者，且所有RA患者血清IL-27水平与疾病活动度呈显著正相关。RA患者血清IL-27水平与28个关节疾病活动评分（DAS28）显著相关。此外，来氟米特免疫抑制治疗可降低活动期RA患者IL-27水平。因此，循环T细胞炎性因子产生增加有助于RA的发病机制，血清IL-27可能作为RA疾病活动度的一种新的生物标志物。
