Duan H et al. –Detection of high levels of IL-1α and IL-16 in plasma and the independence of these protein levels from the IFN signature, implicates an independent contribution of other cytokines to immune activation and/or inflammation in scleroderma. Methods
An attempt to elucidate pathogenetic mechanisms in scleroderma by analysis of gene expression patterns of purified monocytes and lymphocytes, as well as protein profiles of cytokines and growth factors
Expression analysis was performed on mRNA from cells that had been purified with magnetic beads
Plasma samples from the same patients were used for multiplex cytokine analysis
Potential sources of proteins were also examined by in situ hybridization of skin specimens
Results
1,800 genes from monocytes and 863 genes from CD4+ T cells were differentially expressed in scleroderma pts
Cell type-specific analyses of scleroderma samples showed expression of genes suggesting the presence of interferon-α despite the apparent absence of this cytokine in plasma
IFN-α RNA was, however, expressed at enhanced levels in vascular and perivascular cells in scleroderma skin samples
None of the large panel of plasma cytokines were correlated with the expression levels of putative IFN response genes
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