Cytokine panel and histopathological aspects in the systemic lupus erythematosus

The systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disorder with a multifactorial etiology, is characterized by the presence of autoantigens in some organs and tissues that induce the development of some antibodies with extended binding and with various specificities. The presence of antibodies is accompanied by disbalances in the immune cellular response, including alterations in the production of some cytokines. Cytokines, quite a heterogeneous group of protein molecules produced in small quantities by certain specifically stimulated cells, have the capacity to maintain the communication between different cell populations that participate in the immune response (messengers of the immune system), thus modeling a defense function.

The purpose of the study is to estimate the seric levels of some proinflammatory, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating cytokines in patients diagnosed with SLE, as well as some correlations between the seric levels of these cytokines and the histopathological aspects.

There were included in the study 35 patients diagnosed with SLE (active÷remission stage of the disorder), in whom there were determined, before administering the treatment with the immunoenzymatic technique ELISA, the seric level of the following cytokines: interleukins (IL) IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). The obtained results in the patients were compared to those observed in a control group, made up of 35 healthy subjects.

The IL-2 production of T-lymphocytes was a deficient one (low seric levels in the majority of the patients), while cytokines IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha showed high seric levels. IL-10 plays a very important role in the SLE pathogeny, through the high seric levels, and it may be involved, as a predictive biological marker, in the quantification of the activity degree of the disorder.

SLE represents an autoimmune disorder, characterized, among others, by a disbalance in the cytokine network. Signaling and regulating abnormalities of B-lymphocytes by cytokines are responsible of the excessive production of antibodies. IL-6 and IL-10 were proved to be key factors in the intensification of the inflammation and regulation of B-lymphocytes activity, by their polyclonal activation. Alongside TNF-alpha, they play an important part in the development of severe dermo-epidermal alterations.