Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease. The cause of the disease is related to multiple factors and involves immune responses. To the best of our knowledge, the relationship between the production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and Nck adaptor molecule gene expression by lymphocytes in patients with SLE has not been studied.

Objective: Assess the association between IL-2 levels and Nck mRNA gene expression in CD3/CD28 and PHA/PMA stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SLE patients compared with those from healthy donors.

Material and Method: The present study included 35 SLE patients and six healthy blood donors. Blood samples from these subjects were isolated to obtain PBMCs. Then Nck mRNA gene expression from these cells were quantitatively assessed using real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR). After stimulation of the PBMCs either with CD3/CD28 antibodies or PHA/PMA, IL-2 production and CD69 expression were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and flow cytometry, respectively.

Results: First, a defect in IL-2 levels was not observed in either CD3/CD28 or PHA/PMA stimulated PBMCs when compared with controls. Second, there was no difference in the Nck1 and Nck2 mRNA expression between the SLE patients and the healthy subjects.

Conclusion: We found that in SLE patients lymphocyte production of IL-2 did not decrease when compared with that of normal subjects. The Nck1 and Nck2 mRNA expression was not defective in SLE patients. We did not see any altered relation between IL-2 levels and Nck1 and Nck2 gene expression.

Keywords: IL-2, Nck, SLE