Figure 5

Expression of HO-1 mRNA in PBMCs semiquantified by real-time PCR. The data are expressed as arbitrary units (AU). (a) Heme oxygenase (HO)-1 mRNA levels in patients with hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) (n = 5), adult-onset Still's disease (ASD) (n = 10), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n = 15), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (n = 6), or Behçet's disease (BD) (n = 13), and in normal controls (NC) (n = 20). Filled circles and open circles represent patients with active and inactive disease, respectively. *P < 0.05 as determined by the Mann–Whitney U test. The horizontal dotted line represents the mean + 2 standard deviations of the mRNA level in healthy controls. (b) HO-1 mRNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from HPS and ASD patients (filled and open circles, respectively) before and after remission. (c) Clinical course of ASD and HPS in one patient. The numbers on the vertical axis representng/ml (serum ferritin and HO-1 concentrations) and AU (HO-1 mRNA). 'Pulse' represents intravenous infusion of methylprednisolone at 1,000 mg/day for 3 days.