Expression Of IL-37 And Its Receptor In Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective:Systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE)is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by the production of multiple autoantibodies,immune complexes,multiple organ tissue inflammation,and the expression of a large number of proinflammatory cytokines in the blood.Interleukin-37(IL-37),a member of the recently discovered IL-1cytokine family,can play a protective role in many autoimmune diseases.IL-37 may mediate a negative feedback mechanism to inhibit the overexpression of inflammation,but it is not entirely clear how it plays an immunomodulatory role in SLE.The study is intended to detect the expression of IL-37 and its receptor interleukin-18 receptor alpha chain(Il-18r?)and interleukin-1 receptor 8(IL-1R8)in cd4 positive T lymphocyte cells and total lymphocytes in SLE patients,and to analyze the relationship with the clinical manifestations and disease activity of patients,to explore the involvement of IL-37 and its receptor in the pathogenesis of SLE.Methods::A total of 20 patients(3 males and 17 females,mean age:40.84±13.97 years)were enrolled in the Department of Rheumatology,Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University in 2016 and 2017.The diagnosis of SLE was made by the presence of four or more 1997 revised American College of Rheumatology(ACR)classification criteria.Disease activity was quantified using the SLE Disease Activity Index(SLEDAI)score.17 healthy subjects without any chronic disease were randomly selected as healthy controls.All selected cases were excluded from infection,cancer and other rheumatic diseases,the age and gender of experimental group and control group were not significantly different.PBMCs were purified from peripheral blood of SLE patients and healthy control subjects.The expression of IL-37 and its receptor IL-18R?and IL-1R8 in peripheral blood CD4~+T cells and total lymphocytes in SLE patients and healthy control subjects were measured by flow cytometry(FCM).Results:1,The expression of IL-37 in CD4~+T cells in SLE patients was significantly higher than those in healthy control group.There was a negative correlation with C3,C4and a positive correlation with IgM and SLEDAI score.There was no correlations with other indexes.The expression of IL-37 in total lymphocytes in SLE patients was also significantly higher than healthy control.There was a positive correlation with Ig M.There was no correlations with other indexes.2,The expression of IL-18R?in CD4~+T cells in SLE patients was significantly higher than those in healthy control group.There was a negative correlation with C3 and a positive correlation with SLEDAI score.There was no correlations with other indexes.The expression of IL-18R?in total lymphocytes in SLE patients was also significantly higher than healthy control.There was a negative correlation with C3.There was no correlations with other indexes.3,The expression of IL-1R8 in CD4~+T cells and total lymphocytes in SLE patients was not significantly different from those in healthy control group.There was no correlations with the clinical indexes.Conclusion:1,Elevated expression of IL-37 and its receptor IL-18R?in peripheral blood lymphocytes and CD4~+T cells in SLE patients.2,The expression of IL-37 and its receptor IL-18R?in peripheral blood CD4~+T cells of SLE patients is closely related to disease activity.3,IL-37 with its receptor IL-18Ralpha and IL-1R8 may be a potential therapeutic target for SLE.