The pro-inflammatory potential of T cells in juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus

Background: t cells are important to systemic lupus erythematosus (sle) disease progression. this study determined the pro-inflammatory potential of t cells within the rare condition juvenile-onset sle (jsle).method: il-17a and th1/th2-related cytokine concentrations were measured in plasma/serum from jsle patients (n = 19,n = 11) and hc (n = 18,n = 7). il17a,rorc,il23 and il23r mrna were measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmcs) from jsle and healthy controls (hc) (n = 12). th17-associated cytokine expression was analysed in the supernatant of cd3/cd28 activated jsle (n = 7) and hc (n = 6) pbmcs.results: jsle plasma il-17a level (21.5 ± 5.2 pg/ml) was higher compared to hc (7.2 ± 2.5 pg/ml,p = 0.028). no differences were found in th1/th2 cytokines levels. il = 17a (p = 0.022),il-6 (p = 0.028) and il-21 (p = 0.003) concentrations were increased in supernatants from activated jsle pbmcs. il-17 f (p = 0.50) and il-22 (p = 0.43) were also increased but were not statistically significant. il17a and il23 mrna was significantly higher in jsle pbmcs (p = 0.018 and p = 0.01).conclusion: jsle t cells have an increased ability to secrete th17 associated cytokines once activated,which could contribute to the pro-inflammatory disease phenotype seen in these patients. © 2014 ballantine et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.