The effect of prednisone acetate combined with cyclophosphamide on systemic lupus erythematosus and serum IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 expressions

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of prednisone acetate combined with cyclophosphamide for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and their effects on serum interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6, and IL-10. Methods: A total of 90 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were randomly assigned into a control group and an observation group. The control group was treated with prednisone (n=45), while the observation group was given an additional cyclophosphamide (n=45). The serum levels of IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 were measured by ELISA after 28 days of treatment. The changes in the IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 expressions, efficacy and adverse reactions after treatment were compared between the two groups. According to the efficacy after 90 days of treatment, the patients were divided into two subgroups, the favorable efficacy subgroup (patients of markedly effective efficacy) and the poor efficacy subgroup (patients of effective and ineffective efficacy). The expressions of IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 were compared between the two subgroups. A receiver operating characteristic curve was plotted to observe the predictive value of each indicator for efficacy. Results: There were no statistical differences in the baseline data between the two groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the expressions of serum IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 in the observation group were significantly lower than they were in the control group (all P<0.05). The total incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups was not significant (P>0.05). The clinical outcomes between the two groups were significantly different (P<0.05). The expressions of serum IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 in the patients with favorable efficacy were significantly lower than those in the patients with poor efficacy (all P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the areas under the curve of IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 were 0.703, 0.782, and 0.670, respectively. Conclusion: Prednisone acetate combined with cyclophosphamide can effectively improve the conditions of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, and the expressions of IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 in the serum can be used as potential indicators for the prediction of clinical efficacy.