Investigation Of Sera Level Of Interferon-γ And Interleukin-10 In Patients With SLE And Their First-degree Relatives

Objective: To Investigate the changes of Interferon-y (IFN-γ) and Interleukin -10 (IL-10) in sera from patients with SLE and their first-degree relatives.Methods: The sera level of IFN-γ and IL-10 from 116 patients with SLE and their 30 first-degree relatives and 30 normal controls were tested by using ABC-ELISA assay.Results: (1)The level of IFN-γ in sera from SLE patients were significantly higher than those of relatives and control groups (P=0.005, P<0.001); (2)The level of IL-10 in sera from SLE patients were significantly increased, compared with those in relatives and central groups (P=0.001, P<0.001); (3)The levels of IL-10, IFN-γ in sera from SLE patients in active stage were significantly higher than those in static phase. (P=0.010, 0.003); (4)The sera levels of IL-10 and IFN-γ from the first-degree relatives were significantly higher than those in control group (P< 0.001, P< 0.001), but there was no statistical difference between relatives group and SLE patients in static phase (P=0.723, 0.640); (5) The level of IFN-γ from lupus nephritis (LN) patients was significantly higher than that of SLE patients without involvement of kidney .(P<0.001); (6)The increased sera level of IL-10 correlated well with the level of IFN-γ ,SLEdisease activity index (SLEDAI) scoreand anti-double-stranded-DNA antibody.(r=0.607,P<0.001;r=0.297,P=0.001;r=0.279,P=0.048).Conclusion: the two types of cytokines(IFN-γ and IL-10) and their producing cells(Thl and Th2) probably all play a significant role in the pathgenesis of SLE, and there may be an imbalance towards Th2 predominance ,but IFN-γ and Th1 cells might correlate more closely with the involvement of kidney.The healthy first-relatives might be suffering the same immunity disorder as the SLE patients,and the abnormal increase of sera levelof IFN-γ and IL-10 may be an genetic or intrinsic defect in patients with SLE.