engleski

Expression of Toll-like receptors in human peripheral blood cells of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic disease of autoimmune origin seen predominately in women between the ages of 20 and 40. The disease is life-long, and accompanied with damages of multiple organ systems such as kidneys, heart, joints, skin, lungs and central nervous system. Few recent studies indicate that the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) might have a role in pathogenesis of SLE. Our study involved so far five newly-discovered SLE patients, which underwent the same therapy protocol, and their healthy, age- and gender-matched controls. The effect of corticosteroids alone or in combination with chloroquine was observed at three time points: before therapy, after three weeks and three months of therapy. The expression of Toll-like receptors (TLR2, TLR4 and TLR9) on peripheral blood mononuclear cells was determined by three-color immunofluorescence analysis on a flow cytometer. Our preliminary results showed the difference of TLR protein expression level before and during the course of therapy.

systemic lupus erythematosus; Toll-like receptors

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