title: Kidney Expression of Toll Like Receptors in Lupus Nephritis: Quantification and Clinicopathological Correlations.
abstract: Objective. The study aimed at locating and quantifying Toll Like Receptor (TLR) 3, 7, 8, and 9 expression in kidney of patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and correlating them with clinicopathological features. Methods. Kidney sections from 26 LN patients and 4 controls were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using anti-human TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9 polyclonal antibodies; the number of TLR-positive nuclei/mm(2) was evaluated on digitalized images. Results. Compared to controls, LN showed a significantly higher amount of glomerular and tubulointerstitial TLR9 (p = 0.003 and p = 0.007), whole and tubulointerstitial TLR3 (p = 0.026 and p = 0.031), and a higher tubulointerstitial TLR7 (p = 0.022). TLR9 positively correlated with activity index (p = 0.0063) and tubular TLR7 with chronicity index (p = 0.026). TLR9 positively correlated with Renal-SLEDAI (p = 0.01). Conclusions. This is the first study quantifying kidney expressions of TLRs in LN patients; the results show an overexpression of TLR3, TLR7, and TLR9 and demonstrate a correlation with clinicopathological indices supporting a role of these mediators in the pathogenesis of LN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties-Rheumatology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1897-049X
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties-Rheumatology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca Romana
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1969-2097
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Spinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties-Rheumatology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9515-2135
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Truglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties-Rheumatology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties-Rheumatology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4149-5321
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alessandri
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties-Rheumatology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fulvia
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5026-8783
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
authors.affiliation: Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bombardieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Oncology and Pathology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8470-1917
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Giannakakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties-Rheumatology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valesini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D051196:Toll-Like Receptor 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D051199:Toll-Like Receptor 7 / Q000378:metabolism; D051200:Toll-Like Receptor 8 / Q000378:metabolism; D051217:Toll-Like Receptor 9 / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C495344:TLR3 protein, human; C495348:TLR7 protein, human; C495349:TLR8 protein, human; C495371:TLR9 protein, human; D051196:Toll-Like Receptor 3; D051199:Toll-Like Receptor 7; D051200:Toll-Like Receptor 8; D051217:Toll-Like Receptor 9