First Author | Suzuki H | Year | 1993 |
Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 23 |
Issue | 5 | Pages | 1078-82 |
PubMed ID | 8477802 | Mgi Jnum | J:4970 |
Mgi Id | MGI:53449 | Doi | 10.1002/eji.1830230515 |
Citation | Suzuki H, et al. (1993) Serum soluble interleukin-6 receptor in MRL/lpr mice is elevated with age and mediates the interleukin-6 signal. Eur J Immunol 23(5):1078-82 |
abstractText | The characteristics of soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R) in murine sera were examined. To investigate a relationship between serum sIL-6R level and autoimmune diseases, quantitative analysis of serum sIL-6R in MRL/lpr mice was performed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The serum sIL-6R level in MRL/lpr mice of both sexes was below the detection limit (< 1.0 ng/ml) at 8 weeks of age, but it increased in accordance with age and reached 42 +/- 9.3 ng/ml in female and 31 +/- 13 ng/ml in male mice at 30 weeks of age. In MRL/+ mice, although an age-associated increase in serum sIL-6R level was observed, it was much less extensive than that in MRL/lpr mice. Elevated serum sIL-6R level at the age of 30 weeks was observed in female and male (NZB x NZW)F1 mice (32 +/- 10 ng/ml and 17 +/- 5.0 ng/ml, respectively), and male BXSB/Mpj Yaa mice (42 +/- 18 ng/ml), suggesting that elevated serum sIL-6R in aged mice is one of the characteristics of autoimmune-prone mice. Quantitative analysis of serum IL-6 in MRL/lpr revealed that the serum sIL-6R level correlated well with the serum IL-6 level. We also showed that sIL-6R in the sera from MRL/lpr mice could mediate the IL-6 functions through the IL-6 signal-transducing receptor component gp130, suggesting that elevated production of sIL-6R may partly contribute to development of autoimmune disease in MRL/lpr mice. |