Do Increased Levels of Soluble Fas Correlate with Disease Activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus / 대한류마티스학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether levels of soluble Fas (sFas) are elevated in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and correlated with clinical disease activity. METHODS: Serum samples were obtained from 62 SLE patients and 39 normal controls. We measured sFas levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Disease activity variables including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) were examined. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 32.1 years (range 13~60 years) and the mean disease duration was 3.0 years (range 0.2~10.0 years); 1 patient was male (1.6%). The median serum sFas concentration was 610.0 pg/ml for SLE patients and 292.9 pg/ml in controls. The serum sFas concentration was significantly higher in SLE patients than in controls (p or =8) and inactive (SLEDAI <8) SLE patients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that sFas levels are elevated in SLE patients, but sFas does not reflect disease activity.