The expression and clinical significance of serum follistatin-like protein 1 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo detect the serum level of follistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL1) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its expression in renal biopsy tissues in lupus nephritis (LN) patients as well as its clinical significance were analyzed.MethodsThe serum concentration of FSTL1 in 54 SLE patients and 27 healthy controls was measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The distribution of FSTL1 in renal biopsy tissues was stained by immune-histochemical method.Mann-Whitney U test,t test,X2test and Pearson test were selected to compare the changes and data analysis.ResultsThe serum FSTLI level was significantly higher in SLE patients(26±21) μg/L than those of healthy controls ( 12± 14) μg/L (P＜0.01).The level of serum FSTL1 was significantly higher in SLE patients with hypertension than in patients without hypertension.The serum FSTL1 level had statistically significant changes between SLE patients with disease duration ≥ 5 years and ＜5 years.The level of serum FSTL1 correlated positively with SLEDAI score (r=0.319,P=0.022),age (r=0.700,P＜0.01),disease duration (r=0.513,P＜0.01),complement C4 level (r=0.443,P=0.004),and total serum cholesterol level (r=0.460,P=0.001 ).FSTL1 correlated inversely with platelet count (r=-0.422,P =0.001 ),anti-dsDNA antibody levels (r=-0.276,P=0.046).FSTL1 expression was evident in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells of kidney tubules.ConclusionThe level of serum FSTL1 is significantly increased in SLE patients.FSTL1 concentration correlats positively with disease activity.These data indicate that FSTL1 may play a role in the pathogenesis of SLE.