Clinical Utility of Selected Disease Activity Markers in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the utility of measurement of thrombomodulin, antinucleosome antibodies, sVCAM-1, sICAM-1, neopterin, fas ligand, IL-10 and sIL-2R in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to compare them with traditional markers of SLE activity (anti-dsDNA antibodies, C3, C4) and the ECLAM index of disease activity. The measurement was performed over a 6-month period at three consecutive time points after 3 months in each of the 52 patients with SLE. Anti-dsDNA antibodies, thrombomodulin, antinucleosome antibodies, sVCAM-1m sICAM-1, neopterin, fas ligand, IL-10 and sIL-2R were tested by ELISA technique, while C3, C4 components of complement were tested by nephelometry. Fas ligand and IL-10 did not correlate with the ECLAM index. The rest of the markers showed significant correlation with the disease activity index. Thrombomodulin and anti-dsDNA antibodies reflect in the best way the changing trend in disease activity. Antinucleosome antibodies seem to be a promising marker useful in early diagnosis. Soluble VCAM-1, sICAM-1, neopterin and sIL-2R are interesting molecules with a role in disease pathogenesis, but their practical utility is limited.

Prospective Longitudinal Study of Children With Tic Disorders and/or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Relationship of Symptom Exacerbations to Newly Acquired Streptococcal Infections

“…Elevated levels of neopterin have been observed in association with several autoimmune diseases. [53][54][55][56] CRP is an acute-phase protein that is secreted by hepatocytes and is thought to modulate inflammatory responses, although the exact mechanism remains unclear; serum levels of CRP are often elevated among patients with acute RF. 8,57 Therefore, it was of interest to determine the relationships between neuropsychiatric diseases and neopterin and CRP levels in serum derived from patients and control subjects.…”

Biomarkers in systemic lupus erythematosus

“…Its soluble form can be detected in the plasma and urine after endothelial cell injury. All studies found elevated levels of soluble thrombomodulin in patients with active SLE, especially those with nephritis [48,49,[55][56][57]. The consistent results observed in all studies make soluble thrombomodulin a good candidate as a biomarker of disease activity, especially in patients with lupus nephritis.…”

“…Markers of endothelial activation are, therefore, attractive candidates as biomarkers of disease activity. Soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) levels are elevated in patients with active lupus and correlate with global measures of disease activity [48][49][50][51][52][53]. In some studies the correlation was stronger for those who had renal disease than those who only had extrarenal disease syndrome [48,50,54].…”

PANDAS and anorexia nervosa—a spotters' guide: Suggestions for medical assessment

“…Such levels of neopterin have been observed in association with several auto-immune diseases and suggest a challenge to the immune mechanisms. However, this does not specifically indicate either a streptococcal infection or an auto-immune reaction (Altindag, Sahin, Inanici, & Hascelik, 1998;Berdowska & Zwirska-Korczala, 2001;Giovannoni et al, 1997;Horak et al, 2001).…”