IL-8 release from cultured peripheral blood monocytes of patients with glomerulonephritis.

IL-8 is a chemotactic cytokine with proinflammatory and growth-promoting activities. The release of IL-8 was measured in supernatants of cultured peripheral blood monocytes (PBM) that were obtained from patients with glomerulonephritis (GN) and healthy controls. Spontaneous and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced IL-8 release was significantly higher in PBM isolated from patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and membranous nephropathy (MN) compared with normal controls. These results raise the question of whether IL-8 contributes to the ongoing pathogenesis of GN. We cannot relate IL-8 release to clinical and laboratory parameters in IgAN and MN patients. Thus, disease progression in vivo may not be accompanied by increased or sustained IL-8 release.