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Rahmé Z, Franco C, Cruciani C, Pettorossi F, Zaramella A, Realdon S, Iaccarino L, Frontini G, Moroni G, Doria A, Ghirardello A, Gatto M. Characterization of Serum Cytokine Profiles of Patients with Active Lupus Nephritis. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:14883. [PMID: 37834330 PMCID: PMC10573765 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241914883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Cytokines contribute to the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis (LN), yet their value as prognostic biomarkers is still debated. We aimed to describe the serum cytokines' profiles and prospectively assess correlations with disease features and renal response in a multicentric cohort of consecutive adult patients with biopsy-proven active LN. Cytokine associations with clinical and serological data were performed at LN diagnosis (T0), and at 3 (T3) and 6 months (T6) of follow up. Renal response according to EULAR definition was assessed at T3, T6 and T12. BAFF and interleukin (IL)-37 were measured by ELISA; IL-2, IL-10, IL-17A and IL-18 by a bead-based multiplex cytokine assay (Luminex). Thirty-nine patients with active LN (age 40.5 ± 15.6 years; F 71.8%; 84.6% proliferative LN) were enrolled, of whom twenty-nine displayed complete longitudinal records. At T0, we observed higher levels of IL-37 and IL-17 in proliferative vs. non-proliferative LN (IL-37: 0.0510 (0.0110-0.2300) vs. 0.0000 (0.0000-0.0397) ng/mL, p = 0.0441; IL-17: 2.0920 (0.5125-17.9400) vs. 0.0000 (0.0000-0.6025) pg/mL, p = 0.0026, respectively), and positive correlations between IL-10 and 24 h proteinuria (r = 0.416, p = 0.0249) and anti-dsDNA levels (r = 0.639, p = 0.0003). BAFF was higher in patients with low complement (p < 0.0001). We observed a sustained correlation between BAFF and IL-10 throughout T6 (r = 0.654, p = 0.0210). Higher baseline IL-37 and BAFF levels were associated with renal response at T3 and T6, respectively, while baseline IL-18 levels were higher in patients achieving response at T12. Our study highlights the complexity of the cytokine network and its potential value as a marker of active LN and renal response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zahrà Rahmé
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (Z.R.); (C.F.); (C.C.); (L.I.); (A.D.); (A.G.)
| | - Chiara Franco
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (Z.R.); (C.F.); (C.C.); (L.I.); (A.D.); (A.G.)
| | - Claudio Cruciani
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (Z.R.); (C.F.); (C.C.); (L.I.); (A.D.); (A.G.)
| | - Federico Pettorossi
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (Z.R.); (C.F.); (C.C.); (L.I.); (A.D.); (A.G.)
| | - Alice Zaramella
- Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology (DISCOG), University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy
- Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Realdon
- Oncology Referral Center of Aviano (CRO)-IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy;
| | - Luca Iaccarino
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (Z.R.); (C.F.); (C.C.); (L.I.); (A.D.); (A.G.)
| | - Giulia Frontini
- Nephrology and Dialysis Unit, San Paolo Hospital, 20153 Milan, Italy;
| | - Gabriella Moroni
- Nephrology and Dialysis Division, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Doria
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (Z.R.); (C.F.); (C.C.); (L.I.); (A.D.); (A.G.)
| | - Anna Ghirardello
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (Z.R.); (C.F.); (C.C.); (L.I.); (A.D.); (A.G.)
| | - Mariele Gatto
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; (Z.R.); (C.F.); (C.C.); (L.I.); (A.D.); (A.G.)
- Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy
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