The role of chemokines in Henoch Schonlein Purpura

Background The pathogenesis of Henoch Schonlein Purpura is incompletely understood and the role of chemokines is unknown. Objective To investigate the levels of CC chemokines, eotaxin, TARC, and CXC chemokine IP- 10 in Henoch Schonlein Purpura. Methods Three groups of children were enrolled in the study: Henoch Schonlein Purpura in active stage ( n = 26), Henoch Schonlein Purpura in remission phase ( n = 26) and healthy children ( n = 18). Levels of eotaxin, TARC, and IP- 10 were determined in plasma using ELISA. Results No signiWcant diVerence was observed in the plasma level of eotaxin and TARC levels between the HSP and healthy children (> 0.05). We could not Wnd any signiWcant diVerence between acute phase of the disease and convalescent phase in eotaxin and TARC levels ( P > 0.05). We have suggested signiWcant decreases in plasma IP- 10 in the acute phase of the disease compared with the convalescent phase ( P < 0.05). There was a significant diVerence in IP- 10 levels between active stage and healthy controls, too (< 0.05). We could not Wnd any significant correlation between chemokine levels and system involvement (> 0.05). Conclusion Our study shows that plasma level of eotaxin and TARC levels do not diVer between the HSP and healthy children. But, decreasing the release of the Th1 chemokine IP- 10 in HSP active stage may show that in HSP, there is no shift to Th1 lymphocytes in children with HSP. Further investigations are warranted to more fully explore and understand the production of and potential role of these chemokines in HSP.