Study on immunoregulation by interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in NZB/W F mice

The immunoregulating effect of Interleukin-1-receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) in lupus-like NZB/W F1 mice was investigated to find possible approach to prevent lupus nephritis. 12 female NZB/W F1 mice of 13 weeks were randomly divided into 2 groups. Each mouse in the treated group was intraperitoneally injected with IL-1ra once every 2 weeks for 3 times at the dosage of 100 micrograms each time, while the control group was given injection of 0.1 ml normal saline. All the mice were killed at the age of 9 months and the immunologic function was examined. Results showed that this dosage could not completely prevent the development of lupus nephritis, but the renal damage was alleviated and the urine protein was decreased. Moreover, it could improve the immunofunction by significantly reducing the levels of serum IL-1 and obviously increase the activities of NK cells and IL-2 induced by ConA in mononuclear cells of spleen. There was no significant difference in the levels of serum IL-6 and TNF-alpha between the treated group and control group. It is concluded that IL-1ra has certain regulatory effect on the immunologic function of lupus-like NZB/W F1 mice.