Increased α-defensin-1 expression in Korean patients with Behcet's disease

The aim of this study is to measure α-defensin-1 expression in the peripheral blood of patients with Behçet's disease (BD) and healthy control (HC) and to assess the association between α-defensin-1 expression and clinical features of BD.

Our patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of the international BD study group. ELISA and real-time PCR were performed to measure α-defensin-1 protein level in the sera and α-defensin-1 mRNA level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), respectively.

The α-defensin-1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in BD patients (n=59) than HC (n=34) (0.49±0.10 vs. 0.19±0.45, P=0.03). The level of α-defensin-1 mRNA and protein was significantly higher in active patients than inactive patients (n=15, 0.91±0.28 vs. n=44, 0.35±0.09, P<0.001 and n=21, 7.50±2.14ng/ml vs. n=50, 3.32±0.96ng/ml, P=0.001, respectively). The level of α-defensin-1 mRNA was significant higher in patients with arthritis (n=20) than those without arthritis (n=39).

α-defensin-1 mRNA and protein levels are significantly increased in BD patients, especially in active BD patients. Furthermore, α-defensin-1 mRNA is over-expressed in the PBMC of BD patients with arthritis. The present study suggests that α-defensin-1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of BD and can be used as valuable biologic marker for estimation of disease activity in BD.