The role of LT-β as a main cytokine involved in immunoreglution disorders from SLE

The purpose of this study is to investigate expression of lymphotoxin-β (LT-β) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) and its role in the immunoregulation disorders resulting from SLE. LT-β protein in serum of 82 SLE patients and 90 healthy people were detected with ELISA and PBLs were separated for analyses of its encoding sequence with RNA spot hybridization. The polymorphism of LT-β gene was analyzed by PCR-RFLP. The expression levels of LT-β in SLE patients were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<;0.05); those in active group was significantly higher than that in inactive group (P <;0.05). Hybridization results showed a significant difference in LT-β mRNA values between SLE patients and control groups (P<;0.05); the polymorphism of LT-β gene Xho I cleavage sites was not found in the both groups. The results suggest that LT-β is the main cytokine related to SLE, which is involved in the immunoregulation disorders resulting from SLE.