Production of interleukin-17 in Behcet’s disease is inhibited by cyclosporin A

[摘要] Purpose: Behcet’s disease (BD) is asystemic inflammatory disease presumably caused by an autoimmuneresponse. Interleukin (IL)-17 has been demonstrated to be involved inthe development and maintenance of certain inflammatory diseases,including BD. This study was designed to investigate the influence ofcyclosporine A (CsA) on IL-17 production by peripheral bloodmononuclear cells (PBMCs) from BD patients in vitro and in vivo. Methods: Fifteen BD patients with activeuveitis were involved in this study. Blood samples were taken fromthese patients for analysis of IL-17 and interferon (IFN)-γ. Sixpatients were re-evaluated at 1 and 3 months after treatment with CsA.The levels of IL-17 and IFN-γ in the supernatants of PBMCs frompatients before treatment cultured without or with CsA at differentconcentrations were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the frequencies ofIL-17-producing and IFN-γ-producing T cells and the expression of CD69on CD4+ or CD8+ T cells before, 1, and 3 monthsafter CsA treatment. Results: The results showed thatsignificantly higher levels of IL-17 and IFN-γ were observed in activeBD patients as compared with controls. Treatment with CsA could inhibitthe production of both cytokines in association with an amelioration ofintraocular inflammation. In vitro, CsA significantly inhibited theproduction of IL-17 and IFN-γ by PBMCs activated with anti-CD3 andanti-CD28 antibodies or phorbol 12-myristate,13-acetate and ionomycinin BD patients with active uveitis. However, CSA did not influence theCD69 expression in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells inducedby phorbol 12-myristate,13-acetate (PMA) ionomycin. Conclusions: Our findings showed thatCsA can significantly inhibit the intraocular inflammation of BDpatients and the expression of IL-17 and IFN-γ in vivo and in vitro.The results suggested that the inhibitory effect of CsA on uveitis inBD patients may be partially mediated through inhibiting the productionof IL-17 and IFN-γ.

[学科分类] 生物化学/生物物理