Correlation between interleukin-4 and interleukin-6 and auto antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract EN

Background : There is a general acceptance which illustrated that auto antibodies act as a central immunological disturbance in most of the auto immune diseases, among these auto immune disease lies the SLE.

Patients and Methods : Thirty five patients with SLE were compared to twenty age and sex matched, control subjects and studied for the presence of auto antibodies, plus IL-4 and IL-6 using Elisa method and immune fluorescent method (for ANA only).

Results : Data showed that IL-6 detectable levels were statistically significant in patients with positive anti ds-DNA, but not significant statistically in ANA positive patients although it was detected in 24 (70.6 %) of positive ANA patients, while there was no statistically significant correlation between IL- 4 detectable level and autoantibodies production.

Conclusion : There is apparently a positive correlation between IL-6 and anti ds DNA production in lupus patients.