title: Increased α-defensin-1 expression in Korean patients with Behcet's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to measure α-defensin-1 expression in the peripheral blood of patients with Behçet's disease (BD) and healthy control (HC) and to assess the association between α-defensin-1 expression and clinical features of BD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of the international BD study group. ELISA and real-time PCR were performed to measure α-defensin-1 protein level in the sera and α-defensin-1 mRNA level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The α-defensin-1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in BD patients (n=59) than HC (n=34) (0.49±0.10 vs. 0.19±0.45, P=0.03). The level of α-defensin-1 mRNA and protein was significantly higher in active patients than inactive patients (n=15, 0.91±0.28 vs. n=44, 0.35±0.09, P<0.001 and n=21, 7.50±2.14ng/ml vs. n=50, 3.32±0.96ng/ml, P=0.001, respectively). The level of α-defensin-1 mRNA was significant higher in patients with arthritis (n=20) than those without arthritis (n=39).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  α-defensin-1 mRNA and protein levels are significantly increased in BD patients, especially in active BD patients. Furthermore, α-defensin-1 mRNA is over-expressed in the PBMC of BD patients with arthritis. The present study suggests that α-defensin-1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of BD and can be used as valuable biologic marker for estimation of disease activity in BD.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors: Joong Kyong
authors: JK
authors: Ahn
authors: Ji-Won
authors: JW
authors: Hwang
authors: Ji-Min
authors: JM
authors: Oh
authors: Eun-Kyung
authors: EK
authors: Bae
authors: Jaejoon
authors: J
authors: Lee
authors: You Sun
authors: YS
authors: Lee
authors: Eun-Mi
authors: EM
authors: Koh
authors: Hoon-Suk
authors: HS
authors: Cha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D023084:alpha-Defensins / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D023084:alpha-Defensins; C406413:human neutrophil peptide 1