Levels of Soluble CD30 and CD26 and Their Clinical Significance in Patients with Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia

BACKGROUND: sCD30 and sCD26 are correlated with autoimmune diseases. However, little research has been done on the relationship between them and primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). METHODS: This study enrolled 47 patients diagnosed with ITP in the Institute of Hematology and Blood Disease Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Tianjin, China), from January 2015 to August 2015. The peripheral blood of all subjects was collected. The mRNA expression of CD30 was quantified by RT-PCR, and concentrations of sCD30 and sCD26 were measured by ELISA. Patient characteristics, CD30 mRNA levels, and sCD30 and sCD26 concentrations were analyzed. RESULTS: The concentration of sCD30 was higher in active ITP patients (median, 35.82 ng/mL) than in remission ITP patients (median, 23.12 ng/mL; P = 0.021) and healthy controls (median, 25.11 ng/mL; P = 0.002). Plasma sCD26 levels decreased in remission ITP patients compared with that in healthy controls (median, 599.4 ng/mL vs. 964.23 ng/mL; P = 0.004). Ratios of sCD26/sCD30 in active ITP patients decreased compared with those in controls (P = 0.005). Increased sCD30 was positively correlated with hemorrhage (r = 0.493, P = 0.017) in ITP patients while little relationship was identified between sCD26 and ITP. CONCLUSION: Since sCD30 levels and sCD26/sCD30 ratios may contribute to the activity of the disease, they may be used to assess ITP disease activity.