PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hui-Ting Lee
AU  - Yu-Ming Shiao
AU  - Tsai-Hung Wu
AU  - Wei-Sheng Chen
AU  - Yung-Hsiang Hsu
AU  - Shih-Feng Tsai
AU  - Chang-Youh Tsai
TI  - Serum BLC/CXCL13 Concentrations and Renal Expression of CXCL13/CXCR5 in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Lupus Nephritis
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.090450
DP  - 2009 Dec 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - jrheum.090450
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/11/25/jrheum.090450.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/11/25/jrheum.090450.full
AB  - Objective Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype of systemic autoimmune disease in which cytokines such as B lymphocyte chemoattractant (BLC, or CXC motif ligand 13, CXCL13) may play important roles in pathogenesis. We investigated the implications of CXCL13 in SLE and lupus nephritis. Methods Serum samples from 425 patients with SLE and 106 healthy control individuals were analyzed for the concentration of CXCL13 by ELISA. Tissue expression of CXCL13 and its corresponding receptor CXCR5 were observed in lupus kidney. The CXCR5-bearing B cells in SLE patients were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results Serum levels of CXCL13 were higher in SLE patients compared to controls. SLE patients with lupus nephritis or positive anti-dsDNA antibodies had significantly higher serum CXCL13 levels. The peripheral venous blood B cells that bear CXCR5 were more abundant in SLE patients as detected by flow cytometry. CXCR5 and CXCL13 were highly expressed in the renal cortex from patients with lupus nephritis. Conclusion Our results suggest that BLC/CXCL13 as well as its corresponding receptor, CXCR5, may play important roles in the pathogenesis of SLE and in lupus nephritis.