The study of the change of glucocorticoid receptors in peripheral leukocytes from patients with chronic nephritis

This article reports, for the first time in china, the study on the change of Glucocorticoid Receptor （GCR） in peripheral leukocytes from 23 patients with chronic nephritis. The number of GCR was measured by the single point analysis using ~3H-Dexmethson （~3H-Dex） as the ligand. It was found that the number of ~3H-Dex specific binding was 8825±2429 site/cell, much higher than that in normal subjects （514±1635 site/cell n=22） p＜0.01. Among 23 patients, 16 cases were complicated by uraemia and 7 cases were not. The number of ~3H-Dex specific binding of them were 9654±2571 site/cell and 7364±1237 site/cell, respectively. There was no significant defference between the two groups （P.＞0.05）. The concentration of plasma cortisol was determined simultaneously. It was within the normal range. There seems to be no relationship in these patients between the number of GCR and the concentration of plasma cortisol statistically （r=0.074 n=25）.The results showed that the level of GCR in leukocytes during chronic nephritis was changed. This change had no relationship with the concentration of plasma cortisol. The possible mechanism and clinic significance of the results have been discussed.