The Pathogenic And Clinical Roles Of Chemokines CCL22 And CCL27 In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

OBJECTIVE: 1．To investigate the pathogenesis and clinical significance ofchemokines CCL22,CCL27 and their respective receptors CCR4,CCR10 in systemiclupus erythematosus(SLE). 2．To explore the relationship between the change of theperipheral blood T lymphocyte subsets and pathogenesis in patients with SLE.METHODS : ELISA was used to examine the plasma concentration ofCCL22,CCL27．Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression rates ofCCR4,CCR10,and T-cell subsets.RESULTS: 1．The plasma concentration of CCL22 was lower in SLE group (369．53±79．10pg/ml) than that in control group (448．06±131．99 pg/ml) (P=0．000) , and theplasma concentration of CCL27 was higher in SLE group (448．06±131．99 pg/ml)than that in control group (367．91±93．41 pg/ml) (P=0．020) .The expression rates ofCCR4,CCR10 were higher in SLE patients (20．24±17．86, 23．37±17．25) than thatin control group (10．44±3．07, 8．39±2．83) (P=0．001, P=0．000, respectively).Especially, they mainly represent CD3+ cells. There was no significant differencebetween the expression rate of CD3 in SLE patients and in the controls(P=0．489) . Theexpression rate of CD4+ cells was lower(P=0．003) ,but CD8+ cells washigher(P=0．001) ,CD4/CD8 was reverse in SLE group compared with thecontrols(P=0．013) . 2．The plasma level of CCL22 was lower in lupus nephritis group(168．09±161．83 pg/ml) than that of non-lupus nephritis group (292．77±263．45pg/ml) (P=0．019) . There were no difference of the levels of CCL27, CCR4, CCR10between lupus nephritis group and non-lupus nephritis group.3．There were nosignificant difference of the levels of CCL22, CCL27, CCR4, CCR10 between lupuslesion group and non-lupus lesion group. 4．There were significant difference of theplasma concentrations of CCL22 ,CCL27 between SLE( SLEDAI>5 cent) group andthe controls (P<0．05) . The higher score of SLEDAI was, the more significantdifference there was. The expression rates of CCR4,CCR10 increased with the rise of SLEDAI in SLE group. The percentage of CD4+,CD8+,CD4+/CD8+ weresignificantly abnormal in the patients with SLEDAI(5-10) . 5．The level of CCL22was negative association with SLEDAI (r=-0．308, P =0．022) .The expression rate ofCCR10 was negative association with the rate of CD4+,CD4+/CD8+ (r=-0．315,r=-0．313;P =0．007, P =0．007) , and positive with CD8+ (r=0．317,P =0．006) .CONCLUSION: The plasma concentration of CCL22 decreased and that of CCL27increased in SLE group, which may be associated with the pathogenesis of SLE. Atthe same time,the level of CCL22 associated with renal impairment of SLE. Theexpression rates of CCR4, CCR10 increased, particularly on the T-cells. The changeof these chemokines may play a role to assess the degree of SLE activity. The patientswith SLE have disorder of T cell subsets. The concentrations of CCL22, CCL27 wererelated to the ratio of CCR4, CCR10 and T cell subsets, which indicate they interacteach other. It is necessary to examine the change of these chemokines that we canestimate the activity of disease and the damage of organs in patients with SLE.