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Cytokine signaling pathway in cystic fibrosis: expression of SOCS and STATs genes in different clinical phenotypes of the disease

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Abstract

This was an observational cross-sectional study which was done to assess the expression profile of STATs and SOCS genes in cystic fibrosis. The mRNA was isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of CF patients in exacerbation, colonization and post exacerbation phases of the disease. The relative gene expression level for SOCS 1, -3, -5 and STAT 1, -3,-4,-6 genes was quantified by Real-time PCR. The levels of IL-6 were also measured in the serum by ELISA. The expression of the Th1 pathway associated genes (SOCS1, SOCS5, STAT4 and STAT1) was downregulated while the expression of Th2/Th17 pathway genes (SOCS3, STAT3, STAT6) was upregulated in both exacerbation and colonization phases as compared to healthy controls. The serum levels of IL-6 were also elevated in both the disease groups. After antibiotic treatment, the expression of SOCS5 and STAT4 was increased while the expression of rest of the genes showed downregulation which shows a shift in immune response from Th2/Th17 to Th1. Our results suggest that infection alters the cytokine signaling pathway through modulation of STATs and SOCS genes which is not able to regulate the overstimulation of cytokine signaling further leading to chronic inflammation in CF.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The study was funded by Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi through Grant Number: ICMR JRF No. 3/1/3/JRF-2012 HRD-08 (10835) and Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 160012, India

    Swati Sagwal & Meenu Singh

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Maharishi Markandeswar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Ambala, Haryana, India

    Rajendra Prasad

  3. Department of Biochemistry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Jyotdeep Kaur

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  1. Swati Sagwal
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Contributions

SS was involved in conceptualizing the research proposal, performed all experimental procedures and wrote the manuscript. JK and RP provided the laboratory resources and helped in analysing the data. MS was responsible for patient recruitment, obtaining informed consent, data analysis and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Meenu Singh.

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Sagwal, S., Prasad, R., Kaur, J. et al. Cytokine signaling pathway in cystic fibrosis: expression of SOCS and STATs genes in different clinical phenotypes of the disease. Mol Cell Biochem 476, 2869–2876 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-021-04051-2

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