RESUMO
: To evaluate blood-borne endothelial microparticles (EMPs) in women with SLE and correlated these to disease activity as defined by the SLEDAI-2K score. The study takes cross-sectional design. A total of 90 age-matched women were recruited including: G1 (healthy volunteers, nâ=â30), G2 (women with SLE and low disease activity (SLEDAI-2K score ≤4; nâ=â30) and G3 (women with SLE and moderate/high disease activity (SLEDAI-2K score >4; nâ=â30). Blood was collected in 3.2% sodium citrate. Subsequently, the microparticles were purified by ultracentrifugation and labeled with anti-CD51/61 and anti-Annexin-V antibodies. Quantification and phenotyping were performed using flow cytometry. The number of EMPs was significantly higher in SLE patients compared with controls (Pâ=â0.0178). When SLE patients were stratified according to disease activity, the number of EMPs was significantly increased in women with moderate-to-high disease activity compared with controls (Pâ=â0.0074). We observed a correlation between the number of EMPs and age (râ=â-0.34; Pâ=â0.0123) and between the number of EMPs and SLEDAI-2K score (râ=â0.30; Pâ=â0.04). Our results suggest that the SLE causes increased EMPs release, especially in patients with SLEDAI-2K score greater than 4. Although measurement of the EMPs could be useful in distinguishing patients with SLE from health controls, they have limited value in differentiating between SLE subtypes.