Gene expression of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and heat-shock protein (HSP) 70 in patients with Behçet's disease

The methylation status of TNF-α and SOCS3 promoters and the regulation of these gene expressions in patients with Behçet's disease

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the methylation status of TNF-α and SOCS3 promoters in patients with BD and compare them with a healthy group.Method: This was a case-control study, in which 47 subjects with BD and 61 individuals as the control participated. Blood samples were collected from all the participants. Then, PBMCs were isolated using the Ficoll method and methylation of considered sites was investigated using the qMS-PCR technique after DNA extraction by the rapid genomic DNA extraction method and its analysis with Nano-drop.Results: The methylation and expression of TNF-α showed that the methylation level significantly declined in the patient in comparison with the healthy (p < 0.05). Moreover, the results on the mean expression showed that it significantly increased in the patient group, as compared with the healthy group (p < 0.05). In addition, the expression of the SOCS3 gene was not significantly different between the patients and healthy subjects while the level of SOCS3 methylation was significantly higher in the patient group than that in the healthy group (p < 0.05).Discussion: The present study revealed that the gene expression of TNF-alpha increased in BD patients, suggesting that TNF-alpha likely has a role in the pathogenesis of BD.

Immunogenetics of drug-induced skin blistering disorders. Part II: Synthesis

The overall immunopathogenesis relevant to a large series of disorders caused by a drug or its associated hyperimmune condition is discussed based upon examining the genetics of severe drug-induced bullous skin problems (sporadic idiosyncratic adverse events including Stevens–Johnson syndrome and Toxic epidermal necrolysis). New results from an exemplar study on shared precipitating and perpetuating inner causes with other related disease phenotypes including aphtous stomatitis, Behçets, erythema multiforme, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, pemphigus, periodic fevers, Sweet’s syndrome and drug-induced multisystem hypersensitivity are presented. A call for a collaborative, wider demographic profiling and deeper immunotyping in suggested future work is made.

Lack of association of tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene polymorphisms with disease susceptibility and severity in Behçet’s disease

Although it has been reported that the MHC class I molecule, HLA-B51, is a risk factor for Behçet's disease (BD), contribution of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) genes, which are located in the vicinity of the HLA-B locus, to the genetic susceptibility for BD has yet to be elucidated. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of TNF-alpha promoter polymorphisms at positions -308, -238 and -376 on the susceptibility, severity and clinical features of BD. The TNF-alpha gene sequences from 107 patients with BD and 102 healthy subjects were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction. Sequence analysis of the TNF-alpha gene locus, which contains promoter polymorphisms at positions -376, -308, and -238, was performed with a DNA sequencing kit on automated sequencer. The patients were classified according to disease severity and clinical features. Serum TNF-alpha level in the study groups was measured by sandwich enzyme immunoassay. In patients with BD the frequencies of TNF-alpha -308 (19.4% vs 18.4%), -238 (3.7% vs 5.9%), and -376 (0.9% vs 2.9%) gene polymorphisms were not found to be significantly different from those in healthy subjects. The TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms did not show any association with disease severity or clinical features. Serum TNF-alpha level was significantly higher in patients with BD than in healthy controls (3.10 +/- 1.45 pg/ml vs 2.43 +/- 1.94 pg/ml, P < 0.01). Serum TNF-alpha level was not found to be significantly associated with disease severity, activity, clinical findings and TNF-alpha genotypes. The results of this study suggest that the TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms are unlikely to play an important role in the pathogenesis and severity of BD.

High levels of IgG class antibodies to recombinant HSP60 kDa of Yersinia enterocolitica in sera of patients with uveitis

AIMS

To determine the levels of IgG class antibodies to recombinant heat shock protein 60 kDa of Yersinia enterocolitica (rHSP60Ye), Klebsiella pneumoniae (rHSP60Kp), Escherichia coli (rHSP60Ec), Shigella flexneri (rHSP60Sf), and Streptococcus pyogenes (rHSP60Sp) in the serum of patients with HLA-B27 associated acute anterior uveitis (HLA-B27 associated AAU), idiopathic acute anterior uveitis (idiopathic AAU), pars planitis, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH), and healthy subjects.

METHODS

The genes that code for HSP60Ye, HSP60Kp, HSP60Ec, HSP60Sf, and HSP60Sp were cloned by PCR from genomic DNA. The rHSPs were purified by affinity using a Ni-NTA resin. The serum levels of IgG class antibodies to rHSP60s were determined by ELISA in patients with uveitis (n = 42) and in healthy subjects (n = 25).

RESULTS

The majority of patients with uveitis had higher levels of IgG class antibodies to rHSP60Ye compared with levels of healthy subjects (p = 0.01), although these differences were only observed in the HLA-B27 associated AAU (p = 0.005) and in pars planitis patients (p = 0.001). The levels of IgG antibodies to the rHSP60Kp, rHSP60Sf, rHSP60Ec, and rHSP60Sp were similar in patients with uveitis and in healthy subjects (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that HSP60Ye could be involved in the aetiology of HLA-B27 associated AAU and pars planitis.

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis and gene polymorphisms for the inflammatory markers TNF-alpha, TNF-beta and the vitamin D receptor: no association detected

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the possibility that minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis (MiRAS) is associated with the inheritance of specific gene polymorphisms for markers associated with macrophage driven inflammation, i.e. tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), TNF-beta or the vitamin D receptor (VDR).

SETTING

MiRAS is a common, painful, ulcerative condition of the mouth. Its etiology is unknown although mononuclear inflammatory cells are thought to play an important role. There is no clear genetic mode of inheritance, however, many patients report a positive family history and disease concordance is significantly higher in monozygotic than dizygotic twins, suggesting a polygenic mode of inheritance.

METHODS

Ninety-five MiRAS patients and an ethnically matched control population were genotyped for TNFA-308, TNFB Ncol and VDR (intron 8 and exon 9) polymorphisms. Chi-square analysis was used to compare the allele frequencies and genotypes of cases and controls.

RESULTS

No significant association was identified between inheritance of specific alleles or genotypes of the TNFA-308, TNFB Ncol and VDR (intron 8 and exon 9) polymorphisms and susceptibility to MiRAS.

CONCLUSIONS

Inheritance of specific gene polymorphisms for TNF-alpha, TNF-beta or VDR does not appear to be a significant factor in determining susceptibility to MiRAS.

Gammadelta T cells in Behçet's disease (BD) and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS)

The immunopathogenesis of BD is believed to be T cell-mediated. The objective of this study was to characterize the activation stage and cytokine profile of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), with particular emphasis on gammadelta T cells. Venous blood was collected from 20 patients with BD, and for comparison, from 11 patients with RAS and from 15 healthy controls. Both the expression of activation markers (CD25, CD29, CD40 ligand, CD69 and HLA-DR) on freshly isolated PBL and T cell subsets, and the expression of intracellular cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)) on mitogen-stimulated PBL and T cell subsets were analysed by double immunofluorescent staining and flow cytometry. Significantly decreased proportion of alphabeta T cells and increased proportion of gammadelta T cells, CD56+ cells and CD8+ gammadelta T cells were found in BD patients compared with healthy controls. This was also seen to a lesser extent in patients with RAS. Furthermore, in BD a significantly increased proportion of the gammadelta T cell population expressed CD69 and high levels of CD29 and were induced to produce IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha compared with healthy controls. In contrast, an increased percentage of gammadelta T cells from RAS patients was induced to produce IFN-gamma, but not TNF-alpha. These results indicate that in BD, activated gammadelta T cells, capable of producing IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, are present in peripheral blood, suggesting that gammadelta T cells are dynamic and may be regulating immunopathogenic events.

Pathogenic gene responsible for the predisposition of Behçet's disease

HLA-B51 is well known to be associated with Behçet's disease (BD) in many different ethnic groups. The hypothesis may be presented that B51 molecules are primarily involved in BD development through specific antigen presentation. Furthermore, HLA-C genotyping by the polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers method suggests that the BD pathogenic gene is not the HLA-C gene itself but some other gene located near the HLA-B gene. Polymorphic analysis of the Tau-a microsatellite between the HLA-B and TNF genes indicates that the pathogenic gene of BD is not the HLA-B51 gene itself but other gene located around the HLA-B gene. Recent studies suggest that many novel genes exist in the region between the TNF and HLA-B or HLA-C genes such as MIC and PERB, etc. and furthermore, many unidentified new genes have been suggested to exist in this region. In this paper, the present situation of the investigations on the genetic predisposition responsible for BD was reviewed.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with Behçet's disease

We have examined the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in plasma and supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with Behçet's disease and healthy controls using a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Plasma IL-6 level was not detected in any subjects. The IL-6 concentrations in culture supernatants of patients with active Behçet's disease were significantly high compared with patients with inactive disease and healthy controls. Moreover, we investigated IL-6 gene expression in cultured PBMC from patients with Behçet's disease. IL-6 gene expression was enhanced in active patients compared with inactive patients. These results show that IL-6 may play a role in the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease.