High interleukin-18 and low FOXP3 mRNAs in peripheral blood of women with severe systemic lupus erythematosus: a cross-sectional study

Gene expression analysis of peripheral blood cells may provide valuable information about the triggered molecular processes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study aimed to quantify the mRNA in peripheral blood of seven target genes, including inflammatory cytokine genes ( IL23A , IL12B , TNFA , IL18 ), and T regulatory-related genes ( FOXP3 , TGFB1 , IL10 ) in patients with SLE and to correlate expression levels with disease activity and/or clinical manifestations. The relative quantification of target genes was performed using real-time polymerase chain reaction in peripheral blood obtained from 28 adult SLE females and 17 healthy women. The highest up-regulation in the blood of SLE patients was observed for IL23A with a median 9.54 ( p