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EG |
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| Egypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol |
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2011 |
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9 |
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41-47 |
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ESP - 38 |
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Original articles |
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| Circulating dendritic cells in pediatric patients with nephrotic syndrome |
| Ihab Z. El- Hakim |
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Ahmed A. Mohammed |
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Hanaa M. Afifi |
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Sawsan A. El-Sayed |
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| Background: Dendritic cells (DCs) represent one of the most extensively
studied topics in immunology, because of their central role in the induction
and regulation of adaptive immunity, and because of their therapeutic
potential for manipulating immune responses.
Objectives: To evaluate circulating DC levels in pediatric patients with
idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS) and its relation to disease activity in
these patients.
Methods: Fifteen nephrotic patients in relapse (proteinuria>40mg/m2/hour,
hypoalbuminemia, and edema) before initiating steroid therapy (Group I),
and another15 nephrotic patients in remission after withdrawal of steroid
therapy (Group II) were compared to 15 age- and sex- matched healthy
children. Besides clinical evaluation and routine laboratory investigations of
nephrotic syndrome, circulating DCs were measured by flowcytometry.
Results: Circulating DC count was lower in nephrotic patients in both
proteinuria and remission groups [(48.89±13.52) and (64.64±7.69)
X106/liter respectively] than in the control group (78.54±9.8) X106/liter with
highly significant statistical difference (p<0.001), and lower in proteinuria
group than the remission group with highly significant statistical difference
(p<0.001). There was a positive correlation between DC count and serum
albumin (moderate association) (p=0.002) and a negative correlation
between DC count and urine protein /creatinine ratio (strong association)
(p=0.001).
Conclusion: Nephrotic syndrome was associated with decreased number of
circulating DCs and the decrease was more apparent in patients with active
disease. The positive correlation between DC counts and total protein, and
serum albumin, and the negative correlation between DC count and urine
protein/creatinine ratio point to the link between the decrease in DC count
and the severity of the disease process. |
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