ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Dysregulated expression of interleukin-23 and interleukin-12 subunits in systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Authors

Xinfang Huang¹, Jing Hua¹, Nan Shen¹ and Shunle Chen¹

1. Joint Molecular Rheumatology Laboratory of Shanghai Ren Ji Hospital and Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 145 Shandong Mid Road, 200001 Shanghai, China

Received:

20 September 2006

Accepted:

06 February 2007

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the regulation of interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23 expression in the autoimmune disease, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). mRNA from healthy subjects and SLE patients were prepared from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to quantify IL-23 specific subunit P19, IL-12 specific subunit P35, and their common subunit P40. IL-12 specific subunit P35 mRNA expression in untreated and treated SLE patients was significantly lower than healthy controls (P = 0.015 and 0.000, respectively). Compared with untreated SLE patients, treatment of SLE patients with corticosteroids or corticosteroids plus another immunosuppressor significantly suppressed P40 and P19 expression (P = 0.002 and 0.015, respectively). The mRNA levels of p19, p40, and p35 in active SLE patients (SLEDAT > 10) were significantly higher compared with those in the inactive SLE patients (SLEDAI ≤ 10) (P = 0.000, 0.000, and 0.017, respectively). These results suggest that deficiency of IL-12 and possibly upregulation of IL-23 may contribute to SLE pathogenesis and both cytokines may be therapeutic targets in SLE.

Key words

Interleukin-12 - Interleukin-23 - Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) - Systemic lupus erythematosus