Patients and specimens
50 SLE patients and 50 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in the study.
SLE patients were recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital
of Baotou Medical College who
fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology criteria for the
classification of SLE(12). The main characteristics of SLE patients are
listed in Table 1. Disease activity was measured by the modified
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI-2K) (13),
and was divided into low-disease activity (LDA) (SLEDAI 0-4, n = 34) and
active disease (SLEDAI > 4, n = 16).This study was approved
by Institutional Medical Ethics Review Board of Baotou Medical College,
and all the participants provided written informed consent.
Twelve SLE patients were
follow-up study. All patients
had received immunosuppressant and achieved remission. Blood samples
were obtained before the initiation of treatment and after 4 weeks of
treatment. The characteristics of the patients before and after
treatment are shown in Table 2