@Article{,
AUTHOR = {Ewa Robak, Piotr Smolewski, Anna Wozniacka, Anna Sysa-Jedrzejowska, Henryk Stepień, Tadeusz Robak},
TITLE = {Relationship between peripheral blood dendritic cells and cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus},
JOURNAL = {European Cytokine Network},
VOLUME = {15},
YEAR = {2004},
NUMBER = {3},
PAGES = {222--230},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/ECN/v15n3/66378},
ISSN = {1952-4005},
ABSTRACT = {Recent studies indicate that dendritic cells (DC) and several cytokines are implicated in the
induction of autoimmune diseases. In this study we investigated the relationship between the total number of DC
(tDC), and their plasmacytoid (pDC) and myeloid (mDC) subpopulations, with serum concentrations of
interferons (IFN-α and IFN-γ) and selected cytokines (TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6), in patients with systemic lupus
erythematosus (SLE) and healthy persons. Subpopulations of DC were determined by the following antigen
expression profiles: BDCA-1+/CD11c+/HLA-DR+ (for mDC) and BDCA-2 +/CD123+/HLA-DR+ (for pDC), using
flow cytometry. Serum levels of interferons and cytokines were assessed by an enzyme – linked immunosorbent
assay (ELISA). The study was performed in 36 SLE patients and 19 healthy volunteers. The mean number of tDC
was lower in SLE patients (13.9 ± 6.4/µL) than in healthy persons (24.1 ± 12.6/µL) (P < 0.001). The number of pDC
was also significantly lower in SLE (6.6 ± 3.6/µL) than in the control group (12.0 ± 8.3/µL) (P < 0.02). Moreover,
the mean pDC count was lower in active than in inactive disease (5.5 ± 3.6/µL vs 7.6 ± 3.4/µL; P < 0.04). The mean
serum levels of IFN-α and IFN-γ were significantly higher in SLE patients (63.8 pg/mL and 6.6 pg/mL,
respectively) than in the control group (2.7 pg/mL and 0.5 pg/mL, respectively) (P < 0.008 and P < 0.001,
respectively). Serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were also higher in SLE patients (mean 7.3 pg/mL and 18.4 pg/mL,
respectively) than in healthy controls (4.2 pg/mL and 0.5 pg/mL, respectively) (P < 0.02 and P < 0.001, respec-tively).
The mean serum IL-4 concentrations were similar in SLE and healthy persons (0.2 pg/mL and 0.31 pg/mL,
respectively; P = 0.119). A negative correlation was found between pDC number and the serum level of IFN-α
(q = – 0.386, P = 0.02) and between mDC and IFN-γ(q = – 0.377, P = 0.024). In conclusion, the correlation
between peripheral blood DC subsets and serum levels of IFN-α and IFN-γ suggests a possible relationship
between these cytokines in the pathogenesis of SLE.},
DOI = {}
}