We investigated the effect of the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) alone or in association with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on the in vitro growth and antrum formation of sheep preantral follicles. To evaluate oocyte quality, parthenogenetic activation of the oocytes recovered from in vitro grown preantral follicles was performed. Preantral follicles >110 μm in diameter were isolated and cultured for 18 days in basic medium either alone (control) or supplemented with LIF (10 or 50 ng/mL) in the absence or presence of FSH. Every 6 days the follicular survival, growth, and antrum formation were evaluated. When compared to control (P < .05), antrum formation was increased in follicles cultured in the presence of LIF10 and FSH. At the end of the culture, the oocytes underwent in vitro maturation (IVM); their viability and chromatin configuration were assessed. Although IVM was not affect by the treatments (P > .05), the numerically highest maturation rates (29.63%) were obtained when follicles were cultured in 50 ng/mL LIF (LIF50). Therefore, their oocytes were submitted to parthenogenetic activation; from which 58.3% of the mature oocytes resulted in 8-cell stage parthenotes. In conclusion, although LIF10 + FSH increases antrum formation when compared to a nonsupplemented medium (minimum essential medium), oocytes from sheep preantral follicles are capable of growing and maturing in vitro independent of LIF addition to the medium, which resulted in the formation of 8-cell parthenotes.

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Childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) exhibits an aggressive clinical phenotype and severe complications. This could be due to a pro-inflammatory cytokine milieu. Therefore, we determined plasma levels of Th1 (IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF), Th2 (IL-4), Th17 (IL-17A, IL-6), and Treg (IL-10) cytokines in a cohort of cSLE patients and healthy controls, and we evaluated the association between these cytokines and disease activity. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 51 cSLE patients from two pediatric rheumatology services. Ten cSLE patients participated in a longitudinal follow-up study. Blood samples were collected from the same patient during active and inactive disease. Disease activity was evaluated according to SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K). Cytokines levels were measured by cytometric bead array technique. cSLE patients had higher IL-6 (P<0.001) and IL-10 (P<0.001) levels than healthy controls. Patients with active disease had higher IL-6 and IL-10 levels than patients with inactive disease (P=0.001 and P=0.014, respectively) and the control group (both P<0.001). IL-6 (P=0.022), IL-10 (P=0.013), and IL-17A (P=0.041) levels were significantly higher during active than inactive disease. Linear regression analysis revealed IL-6 (P=0.002, 95%CI=0.006-0.025) and IL-10 (P=0.01 95%CI=0.021-0.150) as independent factors for increased SLEDAI-2K. IL-6, IL-10, and IL-17A are candidate biomarkers for disease activity in cSLE patients. This is the first longitudinal study to support their pivotal role in the pathogenesis of the disease.