A comparative study on the expression of the P2RX7 and IL-18 genes in blood samples of Glomerulonephritis disorders and normal persons

Glomerulonephritis is acute inflammation of the kidney, caused by an immune response. In the many of inflammatory diseases, the inflammasome plays key role. The inflammasomes are innate immune system receptors and sensors that regulate the activation of caspase-1 and induce inflammation. NLRP3 inflammasome pathway is a main pathway during inflammatory responses. The IL-18 and P2RX7 genes are respectively, an inflammatory factor and membrane receptor. The aim of this study is evaluation of IL-18 and P2RX7 genes expression in the glomerulonephritis patients and healthy individuals (control group) to determine the role of inflammasome in glomerulonephritis. Therefore, the blood samples of both groups (each group contains 28 samples) were collected. then the expression of the IL-18 and P2RX7 genes was studied by Real-Time PCR technique. The results indicated that expression of P2RX7 gene decreased at about 70% in comparison with the control group. In contrast, expression of IL-18 gene increased at about 5 fold in comparison with control. This study revealed that the IL-18 gene has a critical role in the inflammatory response of glomerulonephritis but its signaling pathway is independence from P2RX7 pathway.