Expression of IL-17 and IL-18 in the serum of patients with lupus nephritis and the relationship between them and C3

Objective To investigate the expression of interleukin-17 (IL-17) and interleukin18 (IL-18) in the serum of patients with lupus nehritis and the relationship between them and C3.Methods Fifty-three patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) were divided into two groups,23 cases of non-nephritis SLE in group A and 30 cases of lupus nephritis in group B,and other thirty healthy people were enrolled in group C.The serum IL-17,IL-18 and C3 levels were detected.Results The IL-17 and IL-18 levels in group A and group B were higher than those in group C,and were higher in group B than those in group A (P ＜ 0.05).The C3 level in group B was (0.56 ±0.12)g/L,which had negative correlation with IL-17 level (r =-0.257,P ＜ O.05) and IL-18 level (r =-0.138,P ＜ O.05).Conclusions The IL-17 and IL-18 levels in the serum of patients can reflect the activity of SLE,however,IL-18 was more important in lupus nephritis.\r\n\r\nKey words: \r\nLupus nephritis; Interleukin-17; Interleukin-18