Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of fractalkine (FKN) in the blood and renal tissues of patients with lupus
nephritis and explore its significance. Methods According to the pathological classification, 48 patients with lupus nephritis
were divided into mild group (22 cases) and severe group (26 cases), with 26 healthy subjects as the control group. RT-PCR
and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were employed to detect the expression of FKN mRNA and protein in the blood of
the subjects, and FKN expression and localization in the renal tissue of the patients with lupus nephritis were detected using
immunohistochemical staining. Results The patients in both the mild and severe groups showed significantly increased
expression of blood FKN mRNA and protein compared with the normal controls, and the increase was more obvious in severe
cases (P<0.01). In the renal tissues of the patients, FKN was located mainly in the cytoplasm of the glomerular podocytes and
renal tubular epithelial, and the number of positive glomerular cells number was significantly greater in severe cases than in
the mild cases (P<0.01); FKN expression in the cortical interstitium did not show a significant difference between the 3 groups.
Conclusion FKN expression in the blood and glomeruli of patients with lupus nephritis is related to the severity of renal
pathologies.