Study of Serum Level of Interleukin 33 in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic disease in which the immune system of the body attacks body tissues in multiple body systems, so it is called autoimmune disease. Arthritis, skin rash, photosensitivity, and nephritis are the most common clinical presentation in SLE. Interleukin 33 (IL-33) is one of the interleukins family, and it is established that IL-33 is central in inborn and acquired immunity. Historically, the IL-33 receptor was discovered first on the surface of T helper 2 cells and not T helper T1 cells. Aim: Measuring Interleukin-33 level in serum of SLE patients and its relation to clinical presentation, activity, and severity of the disease. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted at Clinical Pathology and Internal Medicine Departments-Tanta University Hospital from March 2019 to December 2019 on 80 subjects Results: The affected females were at the childbearing period, and the incidence among gender is higher for females than that for males, which reflects the hormonal role in SLE development. Serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, ESR levels were increased significantly in SLE patients than in the control group. There was a significant increase in serum IL-33 levels in SLE patients than control group indicating that IL-33 has a role in the pathogenesis of SLE. There was a significant difference in Hb, platelet count, ANA, and anti-ds-DNA between SLE patients and the control group. There was a significant positive correlation between IL-33 and serum creatinine, ESR, CRP, and SLEDAI. The most common feature was arthritis (88.3%) of patients, followed by skin rash (60.0%) of patients. Conclusion: IL-33 levels in patients with SLE were significantly higher than that in the control group, and its level was significantly related to disease activity. This indicated that IL-33 has a role in the pathogenesis of SLE. So, IL-33 can be used as a diagnostic and a prognostic marker.