Abstract
Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a disease of glomerular filtration barrier failure presenting with variable degrees of proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, hyperlipidemia, and edema. Inflammation may contribute to the pathogenesis of NS. The aim of this study was to monitor the serum levels of three cytokines [i.e., granulocyte chemotactic protein-2 (GCP-2), growth-related oncogene-a (GRO-a), and interleukin-8 (IL-8)] in different stages of NS and to find out whether changes in the levels of these cytokines could be related to the severity of NS. This study included 125 patients who were divided into 40 patients with nephrotic range proteinuria (NRP), 45 patients with NS, and 40 patients who were in remission. This study also included 80 healthy participants as a control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used for the determination of the plasma levels of GRO-a, GCP-2, and IL-8. GCP-2 plasma levels were significantly higher in the NS and NRP groups when compared to the control group, whereas the GRO-a and IL-8 levels were significantly higher in all patient groups in comparison with the control group. All these chemokine levels were significantly decreased in remission as compared with the participants in the NS group (P < 0.0001). There was a significant correlation between the cytokine levels and proteinuria and serum albumin in the NS group (P < 0.0001). However, in the follow-up group, GCP-2 levels were significantly lower during remission as compared to those with active NS (P < 0.0001). Our findings suggest that the pro-inflammatory cytokines GCP-2, GRO-a, and IL-8 could play a role in the pathogenesis of NS, particularly glomerular permeability.