Effect Of Pemphigus On The Serum Expression Levels Of Cytokines And Chemokines And Its Mechanism Of Action

Objective: To explore the possible mechanism of pemphigus by examining levels of Th1-related cytokines interleukin-2receptor(IL-2R),tumor necrosis factoralpha(TNF-α),Th2-related cytokinesIL-10,pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1α,IL-1β,chemokine monocyte chemotactic protein1 1(CCL2)and C-X-C motif chemokinesis ligand 2(CXCL2)in serum pemphigus patients.Methods: First part: The expression levels of IL-1β,IL-2R,IL-10 and TNF-α in serum of 53 pemphigus patients and 10 healthy controls were detected by chemiluminescence.Second part: The expression levels of IL-1α,CCL2 and CXCL2 in serum of 57 pemphigus patients and 31 healthy individuals were examined by ELISA,and correlations between the respective groups analyzed.Results: Serum level of TNF-α in patients with progressive pemphigus was higher than in healthy controls and advanced patients(P<0.05),and in proportion to the severity of disease.IL-1β levels in patients with pemphigus in progressive were significantly higher than in healthy controls,IL-2R levels were significantly higher than in advanced patients(P<0.05),and the levels of IL-2R was in proportion to the group of age.CCL2 levels in patients with pemphigus in progressive stages were significantly higher than in healthy controls(P=0.024),in addition,serum level of IL-1α in patients with progressive pemphigus vulgaris(PV)was higher than in healthy controls(P=0.041).Although the expression level of CXCL2 in serum of progressive PV patients was significantly higher than PV patients in remission stage(P=0.001),and the expression level of CXCL2 in serum of advanced PV patients was significantly lower than healthy controls(P=0.016).In the age group of patients with progressive pemphigus,the expression level of CCL2 was similar between the age group <31 years old and the 31-40 years old group,41-50 years old,51-60 years old,61-70 years old,and 70 years old,the P values were 0.056,0.032,0.007,0.046,0.026,and the differences were statistically significant,suggesting that CCL2 levels were age-related.Factors including sex,classification,severity of disease,treatment and mucosal involvement,had no significant influence in the expression of IL-1α,IL-1β,IL-10,CCL2 and CXCL2 in serum of advanced pemphigus patients(P>0.05).Conclusion: Cytokines IL-1α、IL-1β、IL-2R、IL-10 and TNF-α,chemokine CCL2 and CXCL2 are heavily involved in the occurrence and development of pemphigus,and the levels of TNF-α are related to severity of disease,TNF-α,IL-1α,IL-1β,IL-2R,CCL2 and CXCL2 may be related to the activity of the disease.