Th1/Th2 balance of SLE patients with lupus nephritis

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypic systemic autoimmune disease that is characterized by the production of multiple autoantibodies and immune complex formation. Lupus nephritis, which has various histological patterns and variable clinical outcomes, is one of the most important complications of SLE. Although this pathogenetic mechanism in each histologically different type of nephritis remains unclear, recent findings in murine lupus elucidate an essential role for the Th1 cytokine in the development of diffuse lupus nephritis (DLN), and Th2 cytokine in that of membranous lupus nephritis (MLN). These data support the hypothesis that individual Th1/Th2 balance is one of the critical determinants for histopathology of lupus nephritis. Therefore the value of Th1/Th2 ratio of the peripheral CD4+ T cells in SLE patients could be a useful index to predict histopathology of lupus nephritis.