Relationship of interleukin-12 and interleukin-13 imbalance with class-specific rheumatoid factors and anticardiolipin antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus.
The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the imbalance between IL-12 and IL-13 serum levels, reflecting Th1/Th2 activity, is related to class-specific circulating rheumatoid factors (RF) and anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies in SLE. Using ELISA we measured serum IL-12, IL-13, RF and aCL antibodies in 73 SLE patients and 20 healthy controls. The determination of IL-12/IL-13 ratio showed that IL-12 levels were above (group A), equal to (group B) or below (group C) IL-13 levels in 71.2%, 15.1% and 13.7% of SLE patients, respectively. IgM-RF levels were significantly higher in group C than in groups A ( P < 0.002) and B ( P < 0.019). Group C had also higher IgM-aCL levels than group A ( P < 0.04). No relationship between IL-12/IL-13 ratio and clinical or other laboratory parameters was found. It was concluded that the increased levels of both IgM-RF and IgM-aCL in patients with prevalent Th2 activity suggest that the predominance of Th2 over Th1 could drive autoantibody production in SLE patients.
Dipartimento di Clinica e Terapia Medica Applicata, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy.
A
A
Spadaro
R
R
Scrivo
M
M
Bombardieri
V
V
Riccieri
T
T
Rinaldi
E
E
Taccari
G
G
Valesini
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D017152:Antibodies, Antiphospholipid / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology
D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin; D017152:Antibodies, Antiphospholipid; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D018793:Interleukin-13; D018664:Interleukin-12; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor