@Article{ecn.2009.0176,
AUTHOR = {Luisa Vega, Julia Barbado, Raquel Almansa, Rocío González-Gallego, Lucía Rico, Antonio Jimeno, Mercedes Nocito, Raúl Ortiz de Lejarazu, Jesus F. Bermejo-Martin},
TITLE = {Prolonged standard treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus fails to normalize the secretion of innate immunity-related chemokines},
JOURNAL = {European Cytokine Network},
VOLUME = {21},
YEAR = {2010},
NUMBER = {1},
PAGES = {71--76},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/ECN/v21n1/65882},
ISSN = {1952-4005},
ABSTRACT = {The pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is far from having been elucidated at the
molecular level. Using a multiplex system, we profiled 18 immune mediators in the plasma from 57 patients
with SLE. Thirteen of them showed mild to moderate disease activity, and 29 showed severe activity, based
upon the SLEDAI score. Fifteen patients were in complete clinical remission. Those patients with active disease,
and those in clinical remission had been undergoing immunomodulatory treatment for an average of 10.7
months and 19.2 months respectively at the time of the visit. Samples obtained from 10 healthy volunteers were
used as control. Patients with active disease and those with inactive disease showed elevated levels of the che-moattractant
proteins MCP-1/CCL2, MIP1-β/CCL4 and IL-8/CXCL8 as compared to the control (p < 0.05).
This pattern of increased mediator levels was observed regardless of the immunomodulatory drug regimen
received (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, steroids or immunosuppressants), and of the degree of tissue damage.
Patients with anticardiolipin antibodies (ACAs) showed significantly higher levels of IL-8 and MIP-1β than
those with no ACAs. Levels of MCP-1/CCL2, MIP1-β/CCL4 and IL-8/CXCL8 correlated significantly, indicat-ing
a coordinated regulation of their secretion. Conversely, levels of Th1, Th2, Th17 cytokines, IFN-γ and
growth factors did not differ from those found in the healthy controls. IFN-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-7 and IL-13 were
undetectable. In conclusion, long term treatment of SLE with standard immunomodulatory drug regimens fails
to normalize levels of key chemoattractant proteins linked to innate immunity. This might suggest the existence
of a basal, pro-inflammatory state in patients with lupus, even in the absence of symptoms, which could serve as
a “substratum” or initiator of the immunological events taking place during a flare-up of the disease.},
DOI = {10.1684/ecn.2009.0176}
}