BackgroundInterleukin-19 (IL-19) is a newly discovered cytokine belonging to the Interleukin-10(IL-10) family. IL-19 have indispensable functions in many inflammatory processes and also can induce the angiogenic potential of endothelial cells. The purpose of present study was to investigate the relation of serum interleukin-19 (IL-19) levels with diabetic nephropathy (DN).MethodsTwo hundred study groups of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) (109 males and 91 females) were recruited, included normoalbuminuria(n = 102), microalbuminuria(n = 72) and macroalbuminuria(n = 26) . The 50 healthy blood donors were enrolled for the control group. All subjects were assessed for: IL-19, High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), Cystatin C, urinary albumin excretion rate (UAE) and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c).ResultsThe serum IL-19 levels in DN patients were found to be significantly higher compared to controls. IL-19 levels were significantly positively correlated with Hs-CRP, Cystatin C, UAE and HbA1c(r = 0.623, 0.611,0.591 and 0.526 respectively, P < 0.01). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed IL-19 levels (P = 0.01) were found to be independently associated with patients with DN.ConclusionsIL-19 is significantly positive correlated with UAE and Cystatin C. IL-19 may play an important role that contributes to the progression of diabetic nephropathy.

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Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that may manipulate host cell mitochondrial apoptosis pathways. In our experiment, 293T cells were transfected with the p3×FLAG-CMV-Myc-ROP18 vector and expressed the ROP18-Myc fusion protein. Cell apoptosis was induced by 0.5 μg/mL actinomycin D (ActD) and was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI assay. The cell mitochondrial membrane potential was determined by JC-1. Cytochrome c (Cyto-c) from mitochondria and the cytoplasm was measured by Western blot. The Bcl-2 and Bax coding gene expression levels were detected by real-time PCR. We found, in vitro, that T. gondii ROP18 significantly suppressed 293T cell apoptosis induced by ActD and maintained mitochondrial membrane potential and integrity, thereby preventing the release of Cyto-c from mitochondria into the cytoplasm. The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax in ROP18-overexpressing cells was significantly higher than that of the negative control. Therefore, we speculate that ROP18 could suppress host cell apoptosis via the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway in vitro.