IL-10 EXPRESSION LEVELS AS POTENTIAL BIOMARKER IN WOMEN WITH SLE

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-systemic autoimmune disease. Its etiology is unclear; however, genetics, environmental, and immunological factors have already been related to the pathogenesis of the disease. There is evidence that cytokines can contribute to SLE, modulating innate and adaptive immune responses. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a pleiotropic cytokine previously related to SLE patients and disease activity status. Genetic polymorphisms at the promoter region of IL-10 have been associated with differential protein production, but the findings are conflicting. To assess the potential involvement of polymorphisms -1082 A/G (rs1800896) and -819 A/C (rs1800871) on the susceptibility to disease and clinical features, we identified these variants by TaqMan® SNP assay in a sample of 135 SLE cases and 130 matched controls from an admixed Brazilian population. High IL-10 expression genotypes (-1082 AG or GG) were associated with a protection for SLE (OR 0.317; 95% CI 0.189–0.525; p = 0.001), while no significant results were found for -819 A/C (OR 1.907; 95% CI 0.966–3.921; p = 0.063). Haplotypes of medium or high IL-10 expression were associated with anti-RO positive autoantibodies (p = 0.038), early diagnosis (p = 0.022), and longer fertility time (p = 0.019), possibly predicting a premature but milder disease. These findings indicate that IL-10 polymorphisms influence the susceptibility to SLE in this Brazilian South population and could predict a phenotype characterized by positivity to Anti-RO, premature diagnosis, and longer fertility time.