Clinical significance of nailfold capillaroscopy in systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation with endothelial cell activation markers and disease activity

2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kuryliszyn‐Moskal ◽  
M. Ciolkiewicz ◽  
P. A. Klimiuk ◽  
S. Sierakowski
Lupus ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 096120332199010
Author(s):  
Vineeta Shobha ◽  
Anu Mohan ◽  
AV Malini ◽  
Puneet Chopra ◽  
Preethi Karunanithi ◽  
...  

Objective Despite the significant advancement in the understanding of the pathophysiology of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) variable clinical response to newer therapies remain a major concern, especially for patients with lupus nephritis and neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE). We performed this study with an objective to comprehensively characterize Indian SLE patients with renal and neuropsychiatric manifestation with respect to their gene signature, cytokine profile and immune cell phenotypes. Methods We characterized 68 Indian SLE subjects with diverse clinical profiles and disease activity and tried to identify differentially expressed genes and enriched pathways. To understand the temporal profile, same patients were followed at 6 and 12-months intervals. Additionally, auto-antibody profile, levels of various chemokines, cytokines and the proportion of different immune cells and their activation status were captured in these subjects. Results Multiple IFN-related pathways were enriched with significant increase in IFN-I gene signature in SLE patients as compared to normal healthy volunteers (NHV). We identified two transcriptionally distinct clusters within the same cohort of SLE patients with differential immune cell activation status, auto-antibody as well as plasma chemokines and cytokines profile. Conclusions Identification of two distinct clusters of patients based on IFN-I signature provided new insights into the heterogeneity of underlying disease pathogenesis of Indian SLE cohort. Importantly, patient within those clusters retain their distinct expression dynamics of IFN-I signature over the time course of one year despite change in disease activity. This study will guide clinicians and researchers while designing future clinical trials on Indian SLE cohort.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaqun Zhu ◽  
Xiaolin Sun ◽  
Lei Zhu ◽  
Fanlei Hu ◽  
Lianjie Shi ◽  
...  

Objective. To investigate the expression and clinical significance of trans-membrane MerTK (mMer) on circulating CD14+ monocytes/macrophages and soluble MerTK (sMer) levels in plasma in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Method. 108 SLE patients and 42 healthy controls were recruited in this study. The expression of mMer on the surfaces of CD14+ monocytes/macrophages was evaluated by flow cytometry (FCM). The sMer levels were measured by ELISA. Real-time quantitative PCR was applied to evaluate the mRNA levels of MerTK and ADAM17.Results. Both mMer expression on CD14+ monocytes/macrophages and sMer levels in plasma significantly increased in SLE patients compared to healthy subjects. The frequency of anti-inflammatory MerTK expressing CD14+CD16+ monocytes decreased in SLE. mMer expression was positively correlated with CD163 expression on CD14+ cells. Both the mMer expression on CD14+ monocytes/macrophages and sMer levels in plasma were positively correlated with SLEDAI. Furthermore, more elevated mMer and sMer levels were found in patients with higher SLEDAI, presence of anti-SSA, anti-Sm autoantibodies, and lupus nephritis.Conclusion. Both mMer and sMer levels significantly increased in SLE and positively correlated with disease activity and severity. The upregulation of MerTK expression may serve as a biomarker of the disease activity and severity of SLE.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
He Hao ◽  
Shingo Nakayamada ◽  
Naoaki Ohkubo ◽  
Kaoru Yamagata ◽  
Mingzeng Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs62324212, located in IL21 antisense RNA 1 (IL21-AS1), has been identified as a genetic risk variant associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We aimed to probe the characteristics of IL21-AS1 and explore its clinical relevance focusing on T helper subsets and disease activity in patients with SLE. Methods rs62324212 genotyping was determined using allelic discrimination by quantitative PCR. Gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and cell surface markers in CD4+ T cells were analyzed using PCR and flow cytometry. The association among IL21-AS1, CD4+ T cell subsets, and SLE disease activity was accessed. Results Ensembl Genome Browser analysis revealed that rs62324212 (C>A) was located in the predicting enhancer region of IL21-AS1. IL21-AS1 was expressed in the nucleus of CD4+ T and B cells, but its expression was decreased in patients with SLE. IL21-AS1 expression was positively correlated with mRNA levels of IL-2 but not IL-21, and it was associated with the proportion of activated T follicular regulatory (Tfr) cells. Furthermore, we observed a significant negative correlation between IL21-AS1 expression and disease activity in patients with SLE (n = 53, p < 0.05). Conclusion IL21-AS1 has an effect on disease activity through an involvement of IL-2-mediated activation of Tfr cells in SLE. Thus, targeting the IL21-AS1 may provide therapeutic approaches for SLE.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Hao ◽  
Shingo Nakayamada ◽  
Naoaki Ohkubo ◽  
Kaoru Yamagata ◽  
Mingzeng Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs62324212, located in IL21 antisense RNA 1 (IL21-AS1), has been identified as a genetic risk variant associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We aimed to probe the characteristics of IL21-AS1 and explore its clinical relevance focusing T helper subsets and disease activity in patients with SLE. Methods rs62324212 genotyping was determined using allelic discrimination by quantitative PCR. Gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and cell surface markers in CD4+ T cells were analyzed using PCR and flow cytometry. The association among IL21-AS1, CD4+ T cell subsets and SLE disease activity were accessed. Results Ensembl Genome Browser analysis revealed that rs62324212 (C > A) was located in the predicting enhancer region of IL21-AS1. IL21-AS1 was expressed in the nucleus of CD4+ T and B cells, but its expression was decreased in patients with SLE. IL21-AS1 expression was positively correlated with mRNA levels of IL-2 but not IL-21, and it was associated with the proportion of activated T follicular regulatory (Tfr) cells. Furthermore, we observed a significant negative correlation between IL21-AS1 expression and disease activity in patients with SLE (n = 53, p < 0.05). Conclusion IL21-AS1 has an effect on disease activity through an impairment of IL-2-mediated activation of Tfr cell in SLE. Thus, targeting the IL21-AS1 may provide therapeutic approaches for SLE.


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