engleski

Tracking changes of Toll-like receptors’ expression level in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus by flow cytometry

Infections have been known to trigger and/or aggravate autoimmune diseases. As Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are recognized as one of the chief actors of innate immunity in antimicrobial defense, we wanted to explore the possible role of TLR2, TLR4 and TLR9 in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The recruited patients (n=11) were eligible for the chloroquine therapy, which inhibits endosome acidification and thus the TLR9 signaling. Patients were analyzed at 3 time-points: before therapy, 3 weeks after the beginning of corticosteroid therapy, and after 3 months, during which the corticosteroid dose was gradually lowered and chloroquine introduced into the protocol. Peripheral blood samples were also obtained from 11 healthy, age- and gender-matched controls. TLR expression on B cells and monocytes was analyzed by 3-color flow cytometry and data expressed as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI). TLR9 MFI on B cells was significantly decreased in SLE patients after the therapy (p<0.05). TLR9 and TLR2 MFI on monocytes were also lower, but only after corticosteroid treatment. When TLR MFI was correlated with the laboratory markers of disease activity, an inverse correlation was established between TLR9 on B cells and C3 complement component before therapy. These results indicate possible novel effect of corticosteroid and/or chloroquine therapy on innate immunity-driven changes in the adaptive immune response in SLE. Further studies are under way to elucidate these findings.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs); systemic lupus erythematosus; B cells; monocytes; flow cytometry

Alma-Martina Cepika nagrađena je stipendijom Organizacijskog odbora sastanka