Frontiers in Immunology (Nov 2023)

Serum profiling identifies CCL8, CXCL13, and IL-1RA as markers of active disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

  • Julius Lindblom,
  • Julius Lindblom,
  • Lorenzo Beretta,
  • Maria Orietta Borghi,
  • Maria Orietta Borghi,
  • PRECISESADS Clinical Consortium,
  • Marta E. Alarcón-Riquelme,
  • Marta E. Alarcón-Riquelme,
  • Ioannis Parodis,
  • Ioannis Parodis,
  • Ioannis Parodis,
  • Lorenzo Beretta,
  • Barbara Vigone,
  • Jacques-Olivier Pers,
  • Alain Saraux,
  • Valérie Devauchelle-Pensec,
  • Divi Cornec,
  • Sandrine Jousse-Joulin,
  • Bernard Lauwerys,
  • Julie Ducreux,
  • Anne-Lise Maudoux,
  • Carlos Vasconcelos,
  • Ana Tavares,
  • Esmeralda Neves,
  • Raquel Faria,
  • Mariana Brandão,
  • Ana Campar,
  • António Marinho,
  • Farinha Fátima,
  • Isabel Almeida,
  • Angel Gonzalez-Gay Mantecón,
  • Ricardo Blanco Alonso,
  • Alfonso Corrales Martínez,
  • Ricard Cervera,
  • Ignasi Rodríguez-Pintó,
  • Gerard Espinosa,
  • Rik Lories,
  • Ellen De Langhe,
  • Nicolas Hunzelmann,
  • Doreen Belz,
  • Torsten Witte,
  • Niklas Baerlecken,
  • Georg Stummvoll,
  • Michael Zauner,
  • Michaela Lehner,
  • Eduardo Collantes,
  • Rafaela Ortega-Castro,
  • MaAngeles Aguirre-Zamorano,
  • Alejandro Escudero-Contreras,
  • MaCarmen Castro-Villegas,
  • Norberto Ortego,
  • María Concepción Fernández Roldán,
  • Enrique Raya,
  • Inmaculada Jiménez Moleón,
  • Enrique de Ramon,
  • Isabel Díaz Quintero,
  • Pier Luigi Meroni,
  • Maria Gerosa,
  • Tommaso Schioppo,
  • Carolina Artusi,
  • Carlo Chizzolini,
  • Aleksandra Zuber,
  • Donatienne Wynar,
  • Laszló Kovács,
  • Attila Balog,
  • Magdolna Deák,
  • Márta Bocskai,
  • Sonja Dulic,
  • Gabriella Kádár,
  • Falk Hiepe,
  • Velia Gerl,
  • Silvia Thiel,
  • Manuel Rodriguez Maresca,
  • Antonio López-Berrio,
  • Rocío Aguilar-Quesada,
  • Héctor Navarro-Linares.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1257085
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14

Abstract

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IntroductionSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a clinically heterogeneous disease that presents a challenge for clinicians. To identify potential biomarkers for diagnosis and disease activity in SLE, we investigated a selected yet broad panel of cytokines and autoantibodies in patients with SLE, healthy controls (HC), and patients with other autoimmune diseases (AIDs).MethodsSerum samples from 422 SLE patients, 546 HC, and 1223 other AIDs were analysed within the frame of the European PRECISESADS project (NTC02890121). Cytokine levels were determined using Luminex panels, and autoantibodies using different immunoassays.ResultsOf the 83 cytokines analysed, 29 differed significantly between patients with SLE and HC. Specifically, CCL8, CXCL13, and IL-1RA levels were elevated in patients with active, but not inactive, SLE versus HC, as well as in patients with SLE versus other AIDs. The levels of these cytokines also correlated with SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) scores, among five other cytokines. Overall, the occurrence of autoantibodies was similar across SLEDAI-2K organ domains, and the correlations between autoantibodies and activity in different organ domains were weak.DiscussionOur findings suggest that, upon validation, CCL8, CXCL13, and IL-1RA could serve as promising serum biomarkers of activity in SLE.

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