Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of glucocorticoids on the expression of Th1/Th2 cytokines at mRNA and protein levels in peripheral b lood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods Th1 cytokine (IFN-γ) and Th2 cytokines (IL-4,IL-10) in PBMCs from 48 patients with SLE were detected before and after treatment with glucocorticoids by RT-PCR for mRNA expression and ELISA for protein production.The systemic lupus erythematosus activity measure (SLAM) scores of patients were compared before and after treatment.Results After treatment, the expression and production of IFN-γ ,IL-4 IL-10 in PBMCs of SLE patients were reduced as compared with those before treatment (IFN-γ mRNA and protein:0.3298±0.2181 and 74.08±15.85pg/mL versus 1.4094±0.6317 and 113.5±27.6pg/mL, P<0.01;IL-10:0.8671±0.6620 and 549.52±67.00pg/mL versus 1.1758±0.6255 and 625.32±104.61pg/mL;P<0.01).The reduction of the exptession of IL-4 and IL-10 was less than thant of IFN-γ(P<0.05).At the same time,the SLAM scores after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (4,48±1.84 versus 10.32±2.16,P<0.01).Conclusion These results support the hypothesis that glucocorticoids may induce a shift from Th1 to Th2 profile of cytokine secretion which might be one of the mechanisms of glucoc orticoid in the treatment of SLE.

Key words: Lupus erythematosus,systemic, Glucocorticoids, Lymphocyte, Cytokines