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PMID: 19191901 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

High alpha-defensin levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Immunology ·Vol. 127 ·No. 1 ·2009-05-00 ·Pages 116-22

Sthoeger ZM, Bezalel S, Chapnik N, Asher I, Froy O

Abstract

Innate immunity plays a role in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Our objective was to determine the levels of defensins, which are antimicrobial and immunomodulatory polypeptides, in SLE. Sera from SLE patients and healthy controls were tested for pro-inflammatory human beta-defensin 2 (hBD-2) and for alpha-defensin human neutrophil peptide 1 (HNP-1). hBD-2 could not be detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and its mRNA levels were low in SLE patients and similar to those found in controls. In contrast, the mean alpha-defensin level in the sera of all SLE patients (11.07 +/- 13.92 ng/microl) was significantly higher than that of controls (0.12 +/- 0.07 ng/microl). Moreover, 60% of patients demonstrated very high serum levels (18.5 +/- 13.36 ng/microl) and 50% showed elevated gene expression in polymorphonuclear cells. High alpha-defensin levels correlated with disease activity, but not with neutrophil count. Thus, activation and degranulation of neutrophils led to alpha-defensin secretion in SLE patients. Given the immunomodulatory role of alpha-defensins, it is possible that their secretion may activate the adaptive immune system leading to a systemic response.

MeSH Terms
Adolescent Adult Aged Child Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods Female Gene Expression/immunology Humans Leukocyte Count Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/immunology Male Middle Aged Neutrophils/immunology Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods RNA, Messenger/genetics Severity of Illness Index Young Adult alpha-Defensins/blood,genetics beta-Defensins/blood,genetics
Chemicals
DEFB4A protein, human RNA, Messenger alpha-Defensins beta-Defensins human neutrophil peptide 1 human neutrophil peptide 3
Authors & Affiliations
5 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Sthoeger Zev M
Department of Medicine B, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel.
Bezalel Shira
Chapnik Nava
Asher Ilan
Froy Oren
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Article Info
Journal
Immunology
Abbr.
Immunology
ISSN
1365-2567
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2567.2008.02997.x
Published
2009-05-00
Pages
116-22
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
0374672
PMCID
PMC2678187
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2008.02997.x PMC Full Text View journal details
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