title: Interleukin-7 is decreased and maybe plays a pro-inflammatory function in primary immune thrombocytopenia.
abstract: Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease with many immune dysfunctions, including over-proliferation and apoptosis resistance of auto-reactive lymphocytes. This study aimed to determine the effects of interleukin (IL)-7 on the cytokine production and survival of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and bone marrow mononuclear cells from ITP patients. We found that the plasma IL-7 levels in peripheral blood from ITP patients were lower than that of the normal controls, and it had positive correlation with platelet counts. However, the levels of IL-7 did not change in bone marrow serum of ITP patients compared with that of normal controls. The result of further stimulation experiments in vitro showed that IL-7 up-regulated the apoptosis of autologous platelets, promoted the proliferation and secretion of interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α as well as IL-10 of lymphocyte both from peripheral blood and bone marrow. As the role of IL-7 in apoptosis-resistance and stimulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, we speculated that decreased IL-7 in peripheral blood, maybe, is a consequence of the negative feedback of the pro-inflammatory function in ITP patients.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College , Tianjin , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hui-Yuan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Dong-Lei
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Fan
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Ren-Chi
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000187:drug effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015851:Interleukin-7 / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D016553:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D015851:Interleukin-7
keywords: Apoptosis; cell activation; interleukin 7; primary immune thrombocytopenia