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Journal of Peking University (Health Sciences) ›› 2021, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (6): 1083-1087. doi: 10.19723/j.issn.1671-167X.2021.06.013

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Serum interleukin-2 receptor α as a clinical biomarker in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

TIAN Jia-yi,ZHANG Xia(),CHENG Gong,LIU Qing-hong,WANG Shi-yang,HE Jing()   

  1. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing 100044, China
  • Received:2021-07-30 Online:2021-12-18 Published:2021-12-13
  • Contact: Xia ZHANG,Jing HE E-mail:haoxiamei@163.com;hejing1105@126.com
  • Supported by:
    Peking University People’s Hospital Research and Development Funds(RS2020-01);National Natural Science Foundation of China(81601417)

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Abstract:

Objective: To investigate the clinical relevance of serum interleukin-2 receptor α (IL-2Rα) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: One hundred and seven SLE patients and 39 healthy controls with comparable age and gender were recruited at Peking University People’s Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020. Complete clinical data in 107 SLE patients at baseline and follow-up were collected. SLE disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) was used to assess the disease activity of the SLE patients. The serum level of IL-2Rα in the SLE patients and healthy controls was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The association between serum IL-2Rα and clinical and laboratory parameters was investigated. Mann-Whitney U test or t test, Chi-square test and Spearman correlation were used for statistical analysis. Results: The serum IL-2Rα levels were significantly higher in the SLE patients [830.82 (104.2-8 940.48) ng/L], compared with those in the healthy controls [505.1 (78.65-1 711.52) ng/L] (P<0.001). Association analysis showed that the increased serum IL-2Rα was positively associated with SLEDAI-2K scores and anti-nucleosome antibody (r=0.357, P<0.001; r=0.25, P=0.027, respectively). Thirty-six of 107 (33.6%) SLE patients had lupus nephritis. Serum IL-2Rα levels were significantly higher in the patients accompanied with lupus nephritis [1 102.14 (126.52-8 940.48) ng/L] than in the patients without lupus nephritis [743.89 (104.19-4 872.06) ng/L] (P=0.032). The patients in the high IL-2Rα group had more lupus nephritis compared with those in the low IL-2Rα group (40.8% vs. 19.4%, P=0.031). Meanwhile, SLEDAI-2K scores were found significantly higher in the high IL-2Rα group than in the low IL-2Rα group [10 (3-21) vs. 7 (3-16), P=0.001]. With the improvement of disease activity in the SLE patients after conventional treatments, serum levels of IL-2Rα [1 119.1 (372.25-2 608.86) ng/L] in the week 12 decreased significantly compared with the baseline [1 556.73 (373.08-8 940.48) ng/L] (P=0.042). Conclusion: Serum IL-2Rα may be used as a biomarker of disease activity in patients with SLE. There is certain correlation between serum IL-2Rα and renal involvement in SLE.

Key words: Receptor, interleukin-2, Lupus erythematosus, systemic, Lupus nephritis, T-lymphocytes

CLC Number: 

  • R593.24

Figure 1

Correlation between serum IL-2Rα level and clinical significance IL-2Rα, interleukin-2 receptor α; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; SLEDAI-2K, SLE disease activity index 2000; AnuA, anti-nucleosome antibo-dy; LN, lupus nephritis. A, serum IL-2Rα level in SLE group was significantly higher than that in control group; B, serum IL-2Rα level was positively correlated with SLEDAI-2K score; C, serum IL-2Rα level was positively correlated with AnuA titer; D, serum IL-2Rα levels in SLE patients with LN were significantly higher than those without LN."

Table 1

Comparison between high IL-2Rα group (≥590.48 ng/L) and low IL-2Rα group (<590.48 ng/L)"

Items High IL-2Rα (n=71) Low IL-2Rα (n=36) P value
Gender,Female/Male 6/65 1/35 0.419
Age/year, median (range) 31 (18-66) 36 (29-52) 0.741
Duration/year, median (range) 2.0 (0.1-23.0) 2.0 (0.2-12.0) 0.355
LN, n (%) 29 (40.8) 7 (19.4) 0.031
SLEDAI-2K, median (range) 10 (3-21) 7 (3-16) 0.001
IgG/(g/L), median (range) 13.7 (1.9-35.9) 16.55 (8.2-29.9) 0.862
C3/(g/L), median (range) 0.453 (0.118-1.46) 0.656 (0.239-0.821) 0.685
C4/(g/L), median (range) 0.117 (0.04-0.544) 0.097 (0.032-0.227) 0.627
Anti-dsDNA/(IU/mL), median (range) 223.98 (25-1 845.6) 277.12 (20-1 665.8) 0.375
AnuA/(IU/mL), median (range) 133.87 (2-1 918.3) 85.72 (2-1 991.9) 0.197
ESR/(mm/h), median (range) 31 (6-110) 40 (11-42) 0.786
CRP/(mg/dL), median (range) 4.65 (1.05-93.2) 2.49 (1.03-10.8) 0.952

Figure 2

Changes of serum IL-2Rα level and SLEDAI-2K before and after treatment in SLE Abbreviations as in Figure 1. A, the serum IL-2Rα level in SLE patients decreased significantly after 12 weeks; B, SLEDAI-2K improved significantly after 12 weeks."

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