Unresponsiveness of C-reactive protein in the non-infectious inflammation of systemic lupus erythematosus is associated with interleukin 6

doi:10.1016/j.clim.2005.11.006

Clinical Immunology

Volume 119, Issue 3, June 2006, Pages 291-296

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clim.2005.11.006 Get rights and content

Abstract

C-reactive protein (CRP) response is abnormal to a non-infectious inflammation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We evaluated the role of cytokines in this CRP unresponsiveness. The sera of 138 SLE patients and 71 rheumatoid arthritis patients were collected prospectively. SLE with infection had higher WBC count, ESR, CRP and C4 levels than those without infection. IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-γ levels were higher in SLE with infection than SLE without infection. In SLE with infection, the CRP was correlated with the IL-6 (r = 0.77, P < 0.001) but not correlated with IL-10 and IFN-γ. These data suggest that IL-6 may have a role in the unresponsiveness of CRP to a non-infectious inflammation of SLE.

Section snippets

Patients

From May 2002 to May 2004, we prospectively recruited consecutive Korean patients who satisfied the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1982 revised criteria for the classification of SLE [17] from the rheumatology clinic at Ajou University Hospital. Among a total of 138 SLE patients, 24 SLE patients had a concurrent infection (SLE with infection). The infections were confirmed by both the clinical findings and positive culture, if possible. Herpes zoster was considered when a patient was

Results

Twenty-four infections occurred in 138 consecutive SLE patients; there were 6 pneumonia, 5 sepsis, 4 upper respiratory tract infections, 2 pulmonary tuberculosis, 2 gastrointestinal tract infections, 2 urinary tract infections, 2 herpes zoster skin infections and 1 soft tissue infection. The mean age of SLE with infection was 32.3 ± 13.8 years, and 87.5% of them were female (Table 1). SLE with infection received the daily equivalent of 14.4 ± 16.0 mg prednisolone at the time of infection, which

Discussion

The present prospective study confirmed that there were decreased CRP responses to the non-infectious inflammation in SLE. Our previous retrospective study revealed that the CRP level was significantly higher in Korean SLE patients with infection than those without infection, all of whom had a CRP level lower than 50 mg/l [10]. However, the CRP levels of two SLE without infection showed higher than 50 mg/dl in this study. One patient had a large pericardial effusion, and the other was in the

Acknowledgment

This study was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF-2003-003-E00106).

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Citation Excerpt :
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Unresponsiveness of C-reactive protein in the non-infectious inflammation of systemic lupus erythematosus is associated with interleukin 6

Abstract

Section snippets

Patients

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgment

FEBS Lett.

Clin. Rheum. Dis.

Clin. Immunol. Immunopathol.

Immunol. Today

Blood

Acute-phase proteins and other systemic responses to inflammation

N. Engl. J. Med.

C-reactive protein: a critical update

J. Clin. Invest.

Metabolic and scintigraphic studies of radioiodinated human C-reactive protein in health and disease