Clinical Study Of Serum IL-23 Level In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

ObjectiveTo explore the pathogenic and clinical roles of cytokine IL-23 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE).MethodsClinical data and sera of 61 Chinese SLE patients (7 males and 54 females) were collected.30 of them were new-onset SLE cases. The patients were divided into different groups according to the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) score or renal involvement:active SLE group with 31 cases and inactive SLE group with 30 patients, or lupus nephritis group with 31 patients and lupus non-nephritis group with 30 patients.20 sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers were recruited as normal control group. Concentration of serum IL-23 was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent essay(ELISA). Clinical manifestations and serum IL-23 level was re-evaluated in one and six months after treatment for the 30 new-onset SLE cases (including 12 cases with nephritis and 18 cases without nephritis). The concentrations of serum IL-23 were compared between patients with different SLE disease activity, organ damage and before and after treatment.Results1. Serum concentration of IL-23 is significantly higher in both active SLE group and inactive group than in normal control group (P<0.001). IL-23 is also significantly higher in active SLE group than in inactive SLE group (P<0.001).2. The level of serum IL-23 was positively correlated with SLEDAI scores (r=0.351, P<0.05).3. Serum concentration of IL-23 was significantly higher in both lupus nephritis group and lupus non-nephritis group than in normal control group (P<0.001). There was no difference for IL-23 between lupus nephritis group and lupus non-nephritis group (P>0.05).4. Serum IL-23 level of 30 new-onset SLE patients was significantly higher before treatment than that after one and six months treatment(P<0.001), and serum IL-23 concentration after one month treatment was higher than that after six months treatment. Serum IL-23 level of 12 lupus nephritis and 18 lupus non-nephritis patients both decreased after one or six months treatment (P<0.01). In lupus nephritis patients, the decrease was significant after six months treatment compared to one month treatment (P<0.01). But in lupus non-nephritis group, the decrease was not significant after six months treatment compared to one month treatment (P>0.05). 5. Concentration of serum IL-23 was related to arthritis. It was positively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), globulin, IgM and IgG, and was negatively correlated with albumin, complement C3 and C4.ConclusionThe level of serum IL-23 is significantly elevated in patients with SLE, and proper treatments can make it decrease. IL-23 may play a role in the pathogenesis of SLE. The concentration of serum IL-23 shows the strong relationship with the activity of SLE, and IL-23 may become a novel mark to reflect the disease activity of SLE...