Altered expression of IL-1β in peripheral blood from gout patients and its association with gouty arthritis

Abstract

Objective To explore the role of interleukin (IL)-1β in the pathogenesis of gout. Methods Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) were used to measure the expression of IL-1β mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and IL-1β in plasma samples from 120 acute gouty (AG) arthritis, 70 chronic gouty (CG) arthritis, 80 intercritical gouty (IG) arthritis patients and 96 healthy control subjects respectively. Results The expression of PBMCs IL-1β mRNA and plasma concentration of IL-1β were both much higher in gout patients than those in controls (P<0.01, respectively). And the plasma levels of IL-1β mRNA and IL-1β significantly increased in the AG group compared with CG and IG groups (P<0.01, respectively) and much higher in the CG group than those in the IG group.Positive correlations existed between plasma concentration of IL-1β and the levels of white blood cell, neutrophil, monocyte, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, blood uric acid, globulin and PBMCs IL-1β mRNA (P<0.01, respectively) while negative correlation between plasma IL-1β and plasma level of apolipoprotein in gout patients (P<0.05). Conclusion Elevated plasma level of IL-1β may be involved in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic gouty arthritis. Key words: Arthritis, gouty; Interleukin 1β