Abstract
Background
About 10–20 % of children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS) are steroid-resistant (SR). Low expression of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) has been associated with poor response to steroids in a variety of autoimmune diseases. This study was done to assess the expression of cytoplasmic GRs for CD3 and CD14 in children with NS.
Methods
Expression of cytoplasmic GRs in lymphocytes (CD3+/GR) and monocytes (CD14+/GR) in the peripheral blood were assessed in 51 children with NS before the start of therapy by flow cytometry. Patients were divided into two groups: 30 children who were steroid-sensitive (SSNS) and 21 children who had initial steroid resistance (SRNS). Twenty age- and sex-matched healthy children served as controls.
Results
Expression of CD3+/GR was significantly lower in SRNS in comparison to SSNS patients and controls (p < 0.0001). Similarly, expression of CD14+/GR was significantly lower in SRNS in comparison to SSNS patients (p < 0.0001) and controls (p = 0.002). CD3+/GR and CD14+/GR expression were not significantly different in SSNS patients compared with controls (p = 0.06 and 0.07 respectively).
Conclusions
Patients with initial SRNS showed decreased GR expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) before starting therapy, and this low expression may be one of the pathophysiological mechanisms of steroid resistance in these children.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arneil GC (1956) Treatment of nephrosis with prednisolone. Lancet 270:409–411
International Study of Kidney Disease in Children.(1978) Nephrotic syndrome in children: prediction of histopathology from clinical and laboratory characteristics at time of diagnosis. A report of the International Study of Kidney Disease in Children. Kidney Int 13:159–165
Bagga A, Mantan M (2005) Nephrotic syndrome in children. Indian J Med Res 122:13–28
Barnes PJ (1998) Anti-inflammatory actions of glucocorticoids: molecular mechanisms. Clin Sci (Lond) 94:557–572
Barnes PJ, Adcock IM (2009) Glucocorticoid resistance in inflammatory diseases. Lancet 373:1905–1917
Elie V, Fakhoury M, Deschenes G, Jacqz-Aigrain E (2012) Physiopathology of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome: lessons from glucocorticoids and epigenetic perspectives. Pediatr Nephrol 27:1249–1256
Grzanka A, Jarzab J, Rogala B (1996) Molecular mechanism of glucocorticoid action. Pol Arch Med Wewn 95:375–382
Adcock IM, Lane SJ, Brown CR, Peters MJ, Lee TH, Barnes PJ (1995) Differences in binding of glucocorticoid receptor to DNA in steroid-resistant asthma. J Immunol 154:3500–3505
Du J, Li M, Zhang D, Zhu X, Zhang W, Gu W, Feng Y, Zhai X, Ling C (2009) Flow cytometry analysis of glucocorticoid receptor expression and binding in steroid-sensitive and steroid-resistant patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Res Ther 11:R108
Schlaghecke R, Kornely E, Wollenhaupt J, Specker C (1992) Glucocorticoid receptors in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 35:740–744
Moalli PA, Rosen ST (1994) Glucocorticoid receptors and resistance to glucocorticoids in hematologic malignancies. Leuk Lymphoma 15:363–374
Bagdasarova IV, Ivanov DD, Afanas’eva VV (1991) The morphofunctional characteristics of the blood lymphocytes in steroid-sensitive and steroid-resistant glomerulonephritis. Arkh Patol 53:28–32
Shalaby SA, El Idrissy HM, Safar RA, Hussein ST (2012) Glucocorticoid receptors and the pattern of steroid response in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome. Arab J Nephrol Transplant 5:13–17
Haack D, Scharer K, Asam-Tauscher A, Vecsei P (1999) Glucocorticoid receptors in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome. Pediatr Nephrol 13:653–656
Kim EY, Zeng QT, Kuo FC, Rawn J, Mentzer SJ (2003) Visual representation of cell subpopulation from flow cytometry data. AMIA Annu Symp Proc 893
Zhang JP, Yan J, Xu J, Pang XH, Chen MS, Li L, Wu C, Li SP, Zheng L (2009) Increased intratumoral IL-17-producing cells correlate with poor survival in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. J Hepatol 50:980–989
International Study of Kidney Disease in Children (1981) The primary nephrotic syndrome in children. Identification of patients with minimal change nephrotic syndrome from initial response to prednisone. A report of the International Study of Kidney Disease in Children. J Pediatr 98:561–564
Gulati A, Bagga A, Gulati S, Mehta KP, Vijayakumar M (2009) Management of steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome. Indian Pediatr 46:35–47
Szilagyi K, Podracka L, Franke NE, Mojzis J, Mirossay L (2009) A new link between steroid resistance, glucocorticoid receptor and nuclear factor kappa B p65 in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome. Neuro Endocrinol Lett 30:629–636
Aviles DH, Matti Vehaskari V, Manning J, Ochoa AC, Zea AH (2004) Decreased expression of T-cell NF-kappaB p65 subunit in steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. Kidney Int 66:60–67
Pace TW, Hu F, Miller AH (2007) Cytokine-effects on glucocorticoid receptor function: relevance to glucocorticoid resistance and the pathophysiology and treatment of major depression. Brain Behav Immun 21:9–19
Clement LC, Avila-Casado C, Mace C, Soria E, Bakker WW, Kersten S, Chugh SS (2011) Podocyte secreted Angiopoietin-like 4 mediates proteinuria in glucocorticoid sensitive nephrotic syndrome. Nat Med 17:117–122
Wasilewska A, Zoch-Zwierz W, Tomaszewska B, Wiercinski R, Stasiak-Barmuta A (2003) Expression of glucocorticoid receptors in mononuclear cells in nephrotic syndrome. Pediatr Nephrol 18:778–782
Berki T, Tavakoli A, Nagy KK, Nagy G, Nemeth P (2002) Alterations of glucocorticoid receptor expression during glucocorticoid hormone therapy in renal transplant patients. Transpl Int 15:132–138
Munck A, Mendel DB, Smith LI, Orti E (1990) Glucocorticoid receptors and actions. Am Rev Respir Dis 141:S2–S10
Ito K, Chung KF, Adcock IM (2006) Update on glucocorticoid action and resistance. J Allergy Clin Immunol 117:522–543
Hurley DM, Accili D, Stratakis CA, Karl M, Vamvakopoulos N, Rorer E, Constantine K, Taylor SI, Chrousos GP (1991) Point mutation causing a single amino acid substitution in the hormone binding domain of the glucocorticoid receptor in familial glucocorticoid resistance. J Clin Invest 87:680–686
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hammad, A., Yahia, S., Gouida, M.S. et al. Low expression of glucocorticoid receptors in children with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. Pediatr Nephrol 28, 759–763 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-012-2385-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-012-2385-4