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