Expression Of Tim-1mRNA,Tim-3mRNA In Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells And The Level Of Interleukin-2, Interleukin-4in Serum Of Of HSP Patients

Objective: Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a commonleucocytoclastic vasculitis in childhood. Non-thrombocytopenic purpura, jointpain, gastrointestinal involvement and nephirtis are the main clinicalmanifestations. It is more common in children of school age, and the onset ismore often in winter or spring. The pathogenesis may not very clear now, butmany believe that it due to multiple factors, such as infection, foods, drugs etal, In recent years, studies found that the serum of HSP patient showed ahigher level of IgA, and the IgA immune complex (IgA-IC) deposited on theblood vessel wall. The dysfunction of T lymphocyte subpopulations may playa very important role in the pathogenesis.T cells play a key role in immunological responses. Th1cells canpromote the cellular immunity by reinforcing phagocytosis; Th2cells mediatethe humoral immunity by promoting B lymphocyte differentiation. The familyof Tim (T cell immunoglobin domain and mucin domain protein) is thought tobe one of the specific surface markers for Thl/Th2due to its unique structureand distribution. The Tim genes take a great part in the regulation of Thl andTh2differentiation, and can mediate the immune responses by T cells．Tim-1is expressed on all activated T cells with higher level on Th2than on Th1cells.It can induce activation and proliferation of Th2cells and can promote therelease of cytokines．Tim-3protein is specifically expressed on Thl cells andnegatively regulates Thl responses．The real-time PCR is a new technology based on the tradition PCRdetection method, In the RT-PCR processes, the amplification of targetsequence and fluorescence signals are detected simultaneously.However，thetraditional PCR only detects quantity at end-point. The RT-PCR effectively solves the limitation, and posses the characteristics of high specificity, easilyoperation, repeatability and so on.In this research, the expression of Tim-1, Tim-3in PBMC from HSPpatients and healthy controls were measured by the RT-PCR, and the serumlevels of Interleukin-2(IL-2) and Interleukin-4(IL-4) from HSP patients andhealthy controls are detected by an Elisa kit.This work provide a new insightto study the mechanism of HSP and reveal the relationship between Tim genesand HSP.Method: All samples were collected from the second hospital of HebeiMedical University, In the28HSP patients there are16males and12females.the average age was（19.30±9.58) years old and the course of disease was aperiod from2days to3months. Among them,19cases were in the skin group(only skin lesions) and9cases in the complication group (jointpain,abdominal pain or proteinuria) The control group involve20healthypersons. There were no significant differences in the ages or sex ratiosbetween the two groups. Peripheral venous blood was collected from thepatient group and the control group. The expression of Tim-1,Tim-3in PBMCof HSP patients and healthy controls were measured by the RT-PCR, and theserum levels of Interleukin-2(IL-2) and Interleukin-4(IL-4) of HSP patientsand healthy controls were detected by an Elisa kit. All of the data wasanalyzed by the statistical package of the SPSS13.0. The normal distributiondata was described as mean±standard deviation (x±s) and a T test waschosen in the comparison between groups; Non-normal distribution data wasdescribed as median (quarterback spacing)[MD(IQR)] and the Wilcoxon testwas chosen in the comparison between groups.P value blew0.05wasconsiderde statistically significant.Results:1The relative expression value of Tim-1in PBMC (RQ value) from HSPgroup and the normal controls were respectively0.974(1.108)and0.760(0.514)，the expression level of Tim-1mRNA in the HSP group washigher than that in the control group, with a statistical significance (P<0.05). In HSP group, there was no significant differences between the skin group andthe complication group (P＞0.05).2The relative expression value of Tim-3in PBMC (RQ value) of HSP groupand the normal controls were1.359(1.183) and1.604(1.177), There was nodifference of the expression value of Tim-3between HSP patients and thehealthy controls(P＞0.05). In HSP group, there was no significant differencesbetween the skin group and the complication group either (P＞0.05).3The serum IL-2level (pg/ml) of HSP group and the normal controls wererespectively188.517±12.867(pg/ml) and202.759±20.903(pg/ml)，the levelof IL-2in the HSP group was lower than that in the control group, with astatistical significance (P<0.05). In HSP group, there was a significantdifferences between the skin group and the complication group (P＜0.05)4The serum IL-4level of HSP group and the normal controls wererespectively73.046±8.750(pg/ml) and62.301±11.232(pg/ml), the level ofIL-4in the HSP group was higher than that in the control group, with astatistical significance (P<0.05). In HSP group, there was a significantdifferences between the skin group and the complication group (P＜0.05)Conclusions:This study hints that HSP posses highest potential ofpredominance in the Th2lymphocyte subpopulations which presents humoralimmune hyperfunction.The gene Tim family may be involved in HSP. Theexpression of Tim1mRNA is increased. Meanwhile，IL-2was decreased andIL-4was increased in HSP. The changed level of IL may have relation withthe severity of the disease.