Serum Levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha in First Degree Relatives of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

Abstract

The present study was conducted on 30 SLE patient, 40 unaffected first degree relatives and 20 healthy controls. The SLE was diagnosed according to the 1997 revised criteria of American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for the diagnosis of SLE (Hochberg et al., 1997). The serum levels of TNF alpha were measured by ELISA in all groups. There was statistically significant correlation between the serum levels of TNF alpha and each of the following clinical manifestations: pulmonary manifestations and hypertension which were associated with TNF alpha serum level positivity (p-value<0.05). There were no statistically significant difference between serum levels TNF alpha positivity and each of the following: musculoskeletal, eye, mucocutneous, neurological, cardiological, gastrointestinal, renal and hematological manifestations, also there were no statistically significant correlation between serum levels of TNF alpha and age, duration of disease (years), 24 hour urinary protein, haemoglobin, platelets, WBCS, Lymphocytes, ESR, CRP, ALT, AST, PT, Albumin , Bilirubin or ANA and anti ds-DNA titres or positivity (p-value > 0.05). Keywords: Serum Levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha in First Degree Relatives of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients.