Levels of autophagy in T cells and B cell of patients with systemic lupus erythe-matosus and its clinical significance / 中国免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate levels of autophagy in T cells and B cell of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus ( SLE) and its clinical significance.Methods: 68 SLE patients without treatment within 4 weeks were enrolled in this study.We accessed the levels of autophagy in T cells and B cells of 23 healthy controls and 68 patients before and after treatment by flow cytometry,and analyzed their correlations with serum levels of C3 and anti-dsDNA antibodies,SLEDAI score,et al.Results: Before treatment,a significantly increased levels of LC3-Ⅱ was observed in SLE patients than healthy controls, the active group ( SLEDAI score≥10) was significantly higher than the stable group(SLEDAI score0.05 ) . Conclusion:Levels of autophagy in T and B lymphocytes of SLE patients are abnormal compared to healthy controls,and these changes are associated with disease activity.Also,these changes are expected to be the indicators of disease activity and potential therapeutic targets in SLE.