Table 2.
Comparisons of serum Th1, Th2, and Th17 cell expressed cytokines in different classes of lupus nephritis and healthy control.
| Cytokines | Group of patients | Healthy control | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LN-III (n = 12) | LN-IV (n = 32) | LN-V (n = 5) | HC (n = 24) | ||
| Th1 | |||||
| IFN-γ (pg/mL) | 2.58 (1.08–3.83) | 3.60 (1.68–9.09) | 1.30 (0.0–2.69) | 1.04 (0.0–1.79) | <0.0001 |
| IL-18 (pg/mL) | 29.36 (19.26–51.95) | 59.58 (39.87–145.77) | 31.06 (19.08–38.15) | 12.08 (4.89–17.63) | <0.0001 |
| IL-12p70 (pg/mL) | 0.65 (0.55–1.10) | 0.66 (0.49–0.86) | 0.44 (0.41–0.61) | 0.42 (0.38–50) | <0.0006 |
| TNF-α (pg/mL) | 0.75 (0.0–1.68) | 1.06 (0.0–1.68) | 0.0 (0.0–1.68) | 1.11 (1.31–1.87) | 0.231 |
| IL-2 (pg/mL) | 2.70 (1.70–3.22) | 2.70 (1.56–2.96) | 2.15 (0.0–2.82) | 2.42 (0.0–3.22) | 0.618 |
| Th2 | |||||
| IL-4 (pg/mL) | 2.31 (0.0–2.86) | 2.82 (1.22–3.48) | 2.90 (0.0–3.36) | 2.66 (1.22–3.05) | 0.717 |
| IL-5 (pg/mL) | 0.63 (0.0–1.54) | 0.0 (0.0–1.42) | 0.0 (0.0–1.54) | 1.5 (0.0–1.74) | 0.203 |
| IL-10 (pg/mL) | 9.66 (4.34–14.86) | 8.69 (4.12–14.01) | 7.13 (4.72–8.62) | 4.82 (3.26–8.54) | 0.168 |
| IL-13 (pg/mL) | 0.57 (0.0–1.37) | 0.725 (0.02–1.79) | 0.8 (0.0–1.005) | 0.69 (0.0–1.07) | 0.633 |
| Th17 | |||||
| IL-6 (pg/mL) | 0.0 (0.0–2.75) | 5.1 (0.0–19.96) | 5.6 (2.28–38.98) | 1.50 (0.0–1.74) | 0.003 |
| IL-17A (pg/mL) | 12.57 (10.01–15.86) | 14.09 (11.65–17.69) | 10.80 (8.15–11.17) | 11.80 (9.15–13.68) | 0.002 |
Comparison of serum Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells expressed cytokines among different groups. The values are expressed in median with range. Kruskal-Wallis test was applied for groups; p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.