Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease with complicated genetic inheritance. Programmed death 1 (PD-1), a negative T cell regulator to maintain peripheral tolerance, induces negative signals to T cells during interaction with its ligands and is therefore a candidate gene in the development of SLE. In order to examine whether expression levels of PD-1 contribute to the pathogenesis of SLE, 30 patients with SLE and 30 controls were recruited and their PD-1 expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were measured via flow cytometry and quantitative real-time-reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Also, whether PD-1 expression levels are associated with the variant of the SNP rs36084323 and the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) was studied in this work. The PD-1 expression levels of SLE patients were significantly increased compared with those of the healthy controls. The upregulated PD-1 expression levels in SLE patients were greatly associated with SLEDAI scores. No significant difference was found between PD-1 expression levels and SNP rs36084323. The results suggest that increased expression of PD-1 may correlate with the pathogenesis of SLE, upregulated PD-1 expression may be a biomarker for SLE diagnosis, and PD-1 inhibitor may be useful to SLE treatment.

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Bismuth layer‐structured ferroelectric ceramics of (1−x)Na0.5Bi2.5Nb2O9–xLiNbO3 (NBN–LN, 0≤x≤0.2) were synthesized by a traditional solid‐state reaction. The effects of LN addition on the microstructure and electrical properties of ceramics were studied carefully. It was found that the ceramics with x≤0.10 have a bismuth oxide layered structure. With the increasing of LN addition, the mechanical quality factor Qm firstly increases, and then decreases with a maximum value of 4820 at x=0.02. The Curie temperature Tc increases gradually and the electrical properties of NBN‐based ceramics are improved significantly by the addition of LN. The piezoelectric constant d33, dielectric loss tan δ, Curie temperature Tc, and remanent polarization Pr of 0.90Na0.5Bi2.5Nb2O9–0.10LiNbO3 ceramics were found to be 21 pC/N, 0.16%, 789°C, and 7.37 μC/cm2, respectively. Thermal annealing and aging studies indicate that the NBN–LN system possesses stable piezoelectric properties, demonstrating that the NBN–LN ceramics are the promising candidates for high‐temperature applications.

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