Estimation of Caspase-8 in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematous and it is Relationship with Disease’s Activity

Introduction: Many research groups studied the relationship between SLE & apoptosis as some enzymes of apoptosis considered to be the cause of relapsing of disease, such as caspases 8 & 3. So the correlation between both is still a debate issue. This study aimed to: Assess level of caspase-8 among SLE patients. This done by:

1. Measurment of caspase 8 level by ELISA technique.

2. Clarify the relationship between caspase 8 levels and SLE activity by measuring ds-DNA and ANA levels.

Method: Subjects enrolled in this study were categorized into two groups: patients and control groups, The patients were of both sexes with ages ranging from (10-55 year),The study carried out during the period from December, 2017 through August, 2018. This study was conducted on patients attending Al-Sadder Medical City, AL Hakeem General Hospital in Al-Najaf, AL-Hussein Medical City in Karbala and Marjan Medical City in Babyl, All these provinces in Iraq. From the Rheumatology and Nephrology out clinics in those hospitals. Forty Five patients (5 males & 40 females), Collect appropriate amount of blood from each patient for: Assessment of ds- DNA and ANA. Assessment of apoptosis marker (caspase-8) using ELISA technique.

Results: The level of caspase 8 show significant correlation among patients with SLE than control (P. value = 0.023) . furthermore,ANA and ds-DNA were high significant in patients compare with control (P-value < 0.001 and P. = 0.001) respectively .