Abstract:

：Objective To investigate OX40 mRNA and OX40L mRNA expressions and anti-C1q antibody level in peripheral blood of patients with lupus nephritis（LN）,and to evaluate diagnosis performance. Methods A total of 40 patients with LN,40 patients without LN and 40 healthy controls were enrolled. OX40 mRNA and OX40L mRNA expressions in peripheral blood mononuclear cells（PBMC）were determined by fluorescence quantitation reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction（PCR）. Anti-C1q antibody level was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index（SLEDAI）,anti-dsDNA antibody,creatinine and complement were determined.Results OX40 mRNA and OX40L mRNA expressions in PBMC of LN patients were（8±4）×10⁶ copies/μL and（4±3）×10³ copies/μL,which were higher than those in patients without LN [（4±3）×10⁶ copies/μL and（2±2）×10³ copies/μL] and healthy controls [（4±2）×10⁶ copies/μL and（2±1）×10³ copies/μL]（P<0.05）. Anit-C1q antibody level in LN patients [（9.11±2.46） ng/mL] was higher than those in patients without LN[（3.12±0.97）ng/mL] and healthy controls [（1.12±0.33） ng/mL]（P<0.05）. OX40 mRNA expression of LN patients was correlated with anti-C1q antibody,creatinine and SLEDAI（r=0.69,0.75 and 0.67,P<0.01）. There was a correlation between OX40L mRNA expression and anti-C1q antibody level（r=0.58,P<0.01）. Receiver operating characteristic（ROC） curve showed that the sensitivity,specificity and the area under ROC curve（AUC） of OX40L mRNA for the diagnosis of LN were 0.933,0.733 and 0.918,which were better than those of other parameters. Conclusions OX40 mRNA expression and anti-C1q antibody level correlate with the activity of LN,and they may play roles in oncogenesis and progression of LN. OX40 mRNA may become a good parameter for diagnosing and monitoring LN.

Key words: OX40/OX40L, Anti-C1q antibody, Lupus nephritis, Receiver operating characteristic curve