Evaluation of the gene expression of IL-1β and Casp-1 related to inflammation process in glomerulonephritis patients

Glomerulonephritis is an inflammatory disease in which glomerular is damaged, as a result the renal failure is observed. Inflammasome complex made of some intracellular components that can be affected inflammation process. This complex is one of the most important components of the innate immune system. Inflammasome complex is stimulated after detecting pathogenic signals and causes activation of inflammatory interleukins. Based on, the role of Caspase-1 and Interleukin-1β in regulation of inflammation, investigating the gene expression of them in glomerulonephritis patients can be useful in determining the role of Inflammasome in glomerulonephritis. For this purpose, in this study, 28 samples of patients with glomerulonephritis and 28 healthy subjects were examined. After blood sampling from individuals, the total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and after synthesizing cDNA; the caspase-1 and IL-1β genes were analyzed by quantitative analysis with Real Time PCR. The results showed that the expression of IL-1β and Casp-1 genes in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with glomerulonephritis is different from control samples. The expression of Casp-1 and IL-1β genes in patients are 1.88 (P <0.01) and 1.56 (P = 0.052), respectively. So, in the Caspase-1 gene this difference in expression is significant. Considering the importance of IL-1β and Casp-1 genes in the pathway of activation of the Inflammasome complex and due to the increased expression of these two genes in glomerulonephritis patients, it can be concluded that probably glomerulonephritis cause by the activation of the Inflammasome complex.