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CASP8 and CASP3 mRNA Expression in Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (ALPS) and Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia
Anna Pau1, Federico Rondot2, Stefano Gambarino1
1Immunopathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Piazza Polonia, 94, 10126 Turin, Italy.
Background:
Fas/FasL-mediated apoptosis is central to immune homeostasis and is implicated in autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). We aimed to compare whole-blood transcriptional levels of CASP8 and CASP3 across ALPS, chronic ITP, and healthy controls.
Methods:
CASP8 and CASP3 mRNA expression was quantified by real-time PCR in whole blood from clinically diagnosed ALPS patients, chronic ITP patients, and healthy controls.
Results:
CASP8 mRNA expression was significantly increased in ALPS and ITP versus controls (p = 0.0009 and p < 0.0001, respectively) and was lower in ALPS than in ITP (p = 0.0265). CASP3 mRNA was also increased in both patient groups versus controls (ALPS: p = 0.0045; ITP: p < 0.0001), with no significant difference between ALPS and ITP (p = 0.1692).
Conclusions:
ALPS and chronic ITP show distinct CASP8 transcriptional patterns and a shared upregulation of CASP3 at the whole-blood mRNA level. These findings are descriptive and do not directly assess caspase activation or apoptotic pathway activity; further protein- and cell subset-based studies are needed to clarify functional implications.
