بررسی میزان بیان IL-17 و IL-23R در سلول های تک هسته ای خون محیطی بیماران مبتلا به آرتریت روماتوئید

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease caused by accumulation of numerous inflammatory cells in the joints and secretion of various cytokines leading to cartilage and bone damage. IL-17 and IL-23 are inflammatory cytokines that their definite role has not been clearly distinguished in RA pathogenesis. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the expression and association of IL-17 and IL-23R in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in RA patients. Methods: This study was case-control. We gathered peripheral blood from 37 patients with RA and the same number of healthy individuals as a control group. In brief, PBMCs were isolated by Ficoll centrifugation. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, IL-17 and IL-23R expression mRNA levels were determined in PBMCs by real-time PCR technique and Taqman probe method. Results: The mean±standard deviation of the ages in patient group was 46.86±1.328 yr. and in controls was 44.73±1.392 yr. The expression of IL-17 was increased in RA patients in comparison to healthy controls (P= 0.002). Whereas, after comparison of IL-23R expression in patient and healthy groups, no significant difference was observed (P = 0.22). Conclusion: In this study, upregulated expression of IL-17 implicated the important role of this cytokine in RA pathogenesis. Therefore, novel therapeutic and more effective strategies can be suggested by further investigations to specifically inhibit IL-17 using monoclonal antibodies (biologic drugs).