title: The increased interleukin-13 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: relations to other Th1-, Th2-related cytokines and clinical findings.
abstract: The levels of interleukin-13 (IL-13) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were examined and related to other Th1-/Th2- related cytokines, clinical manifestations and other markers. Serum levels of IL-13 and other cytokines, soluble markers were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Patients with active SLE had a significantly increased level of IL-13. Most patients with high levels of IL-13 had higher levels of IL-6, and some patients had high levels of gammaIFN. These patients were divided into two groups according to the patterns of these increased cytokines; one with a high level of only Th2 related cytokines (IL-13 or IL-6) and another with high levels of both Th2 related and Th1 related cytokines (gammaIFN or IL-2). The latter patients had high levels of soluble CD8 and CD23, and some of them had hemolytic anemia or pulmonary involvement, while most of the former patients had nephropathy. Thus, in SLE, the levels of IL-13 were increased, and the heterogeneity of increased Th2- and Th1-related cytokines was related to that of activation markers and clinical manifestations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Hongo, Tokyo, Japan. morimoto@jane1.med.juntendo.ac.jp
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokano
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000097:blood; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017455:Receptors, IgE / Q000097:blood; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D016207:Cytokines; D018793:Interleukin-13; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D017455:Receptors, IgE; D007371:Interferon-gamma