Cytokines, 25-OH vit D and disease activity in patients with juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus.

BACKGROUND: Juvenile onset systemic lupus erythematosus JO-SLE patients usually exhibit a more aggressive disease course compared to adult patients. Vitamin D deficiency is proposed to be associated with increased disease activity and flares of numerous autoimmune diseases like SLE, rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the level of IL-17, IFN-γ, and 25-OH Vit D in JO-SLE patients versus healthy controls, and determine the correlation of those inflammatory mediators with SLE disease activity and damage scores. Furthermore, to analyze the relationship between 25-OH Vit D levels with the inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-17) in JO-SLE patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty JO-SLE patients and 25 controls were included in this study. Clinical and laboratory data of patients at the time of the study were recorded. SLE disease activity and damage were assessed using the SLEDAI-2K disease score and SLICC damage index, respectively. Plasma 25-OH Vit D, IFN-γ, and IL-17 concentrations were determined using the human ELISA kit. RESULTS: Plasma 25-OH Vit D levels (20 ng/mL) were significantly lower in JO-SLE patients compared to (31 ng/mL) controls (P = 0.014). Plasma levels of IFN-γ and IL-17 were significantly higher (163.5 and 25.5 pg./mL) in JO-SLE patients than (68.3 and 3 pg./mL) that of controls (P = 0.016 and P = 0.013). There was a significant negative correlation between 25-OH Vit D levels and SLEDAI-2K (R= -0.431) as well as IFN-γ (R= -0.471) plasma level (P = 0.022 and P = 0.027). CONCLUSION: IFN-γ and IL-17 were significantly higher in JO-SLE patients, while 25-OH Vit D was significantly lower compared to controls. There was a negative correlation between 25-OH Vit D and each of SLEDAI-2K and IFN-γ.

Lymphocyte apoptosis and its association with the inflammatory markers and disease severity in juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

BACKGROUND: The defective clearance of apoptotic bodies in juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (jSLE) potentially leads to the persistence of autoreactive lymphocytes and the perpetuation of the autoimmune response. These factors contribute to the disturbance in lymphocyte apoptosis and show potential as key determinants in the clinical course and severity of jSLE. This study evaluates the role of peripheral blood (PB) lymphocyte apoptosis in prognosis of jSLE and as a predictor for disease activity. METHODS: The study involved 100 jSLE patients and 50 healthy controls. Flow cytometry was used to analyze percentages of lymphocyte apoptosis in PB of all study participants. Plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were determined using ELISA. RESULTS: Our results showed that percentages of lymphocyte apoptosis in PB of jSLE patients are significantly higher than those of healthy controls. These percentages are significantly positively associated with disease activity of patients (SLEDAI-2 K). Furthermore, plasma cytokine levels (IL-17, IFN-γ and TNF-α) are significantly elevated in jSLE patients compared to their levels in healthy controls. Also, there are weak significant positive correlations between percentages of PB lymphocyte apoptosis and each of IL-17 and IFN-γ plasma levels in jSLE patients. Moreover, PB lymphocyte apoptosis percentages among jSLE patients are higher in the presence of some clinical and laboratory features than those in their absence. CONCLUSION: Peripheral apoptotic lymphocytes could contribute to the prognosis of jSLE and could be used as a predictor for disease activity in jSLE patients.

Importance of TREC and KREC as molecular markers for immunological evaluation of down syndrome children.

Recurrent and severe infections occurred in children with Down Syndrome (DS) due to immunological parameter defects have been reported. The aim of the study is to evaluate the importance of using T-cell receptor excision circle (TREC) and kappa-deleting recombination excision circle (KREC) as molecular markers for immunological investigation of children with DS. The study included 40 non-disjunction trisomy 21 confirmed DS children, and 25 healthy controls. Peripheral blood (PB) was analyzed for lymphocyte subpopulations by flow cytometry, serum immunoglobulin levels, and TREC and KREC copy numbers using quantitative real-time PCR. DS patients showed significantly lower absolute counts of PB T lymphocytes, T helper lymphocytes, T cytotoxic lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and Natural killer cells, and lower serum IgA, IgG, and IgM levels compared to healthy controls. Copy number of TREC and KREC showed no significant differences between DS patients and healthy controls. There is a significant positive correlation between TREC copy number with a percentage and absolute count of helper T lymphocytes in patients. Also, the KREC copy number was significantly negatively correlated with the age of patients. These findings suggest that copy numbers of TREC and KREC could be useful as molecular markers for immunological evaluation of patients with DS.

Biodiversity of moderately halophilic bacteria in hypersaline habitats in Egypt.

Screening bacteria from different saline environments in Alexandria. Egypt, lead to the isolation of 76 Gram-negative and 14 Gram-positive moderately halophilic bacteria. The isolates were characterized taxonomically for a total of 155 features. These results were analyzed by numerical techniques using simple matching coefficient (SSM) and the clustering was achieved by the unweighed pair-group method of association (UPGMA). At 75% similarity level the Gram-negative bacteria were clustered in 7 phena in addition to one single isolate, whereas 4 phena represented the Gram-positive. Based on phenotypic characteristics, it is suggested that the Gram-negative bacteria belong to the genera Pseudoalteromonas, Flavobacterium, Chromohalobacter, Halomonas and Salegentibacter, in addition to the non-identified single isolate. The Gram-positive bacteria are proposed to belong to the genera Halobacillus, Salinicoccus, Staphylococcus and Tetragenococcus. This study provides the first publication on the biodiversity of moderately halophilic bacteria in saline environments in Alexandria, Egypt.