Serum Cytokines Th1, Th2, and Th17 Expression Profiling in Active Lupus Nephritis-IV: From a Southern Chinese Han Population

Figure 1

Comparison of serum levels Th1 cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-18, and IL-12p70), Th2 cytokine (IL-4), and Th17 cytokines (IL-17A and IL-6) in the LN classes and healthy control (HC). (a) IL-18 was significantly elevated in lupus nephritis-IV compared to III (), LN-V (0.01), and HC (). (b) Serum IFN-γ level was high in LN-IV when compared with healthy control (), whilst there are no differences among LN-III and LN-V. (c) Serum level of IL-12p70 was significantly higher in lupus nephritis-IV in comparison with HC (), but there are no significant differences with LN-III and LN-V. (d) Serum IL-17A was elevated in LN-IV when compared to LN-V () and healthy control (). (e) IL-6 was increased in LN-IV when compared to LN-III and healthy control. (f) IL-4 was not elevated among the groups of patients and healthy control. Mann–Whitney test was applied for each group comparison; Spearman correlation test was used to see the correlationship between two parameters. value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

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