Abstract: Objective To clarify whether the mRNA expression level of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) can predict the clinical response to glucocorticoid (GC) in patients with pemphigus. Methods Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied to determine the mRNA expression of GRα and GRβ in PBMCs from 30 patients with pemphigus and 30 healthy volunteers. Results GRα mRNA was detected in all patients and all healthy volunteers, and the expression of GRα mRNA in pemphigus patients was significantly lower than that in healthy volunteers (P=0.044), but no significant difference was found between patients insensitive and sensitive to glucocorticoid. In contrast, GRβ mRNA was detected in 10 of 12 patients insensitive to glucocorticoid, 3 of 18 patients sensitive to glucocorticoid, and 9 of 30 healthy Volunteers. The positive rate of GRβ in the insensitive group was significantly higher than that in the sensitive group (P<0.001). Conclusion The results suggest that the expression of GRβ mRNA in PBMCs examined by RT-PCR method is useful in predicting the GC response in pemphigus patients.

Key words: Pemphigus, Receptors, glucocorticoid