Do Increased Levels of Soluble Fas Correlate with Disease Activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
- Author:
Yun A KI
1
;
Shin Seok LEE
;
Mi Jeong PARK
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, Seonam University College of Medicine, Gwangju, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Systemic lupus erythematosus;
Soluble Fas;
Disease activity
- MeSH:
Antibodies;
Complement System Proteins;
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay;
Humans;
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic*;
Male;
ROC Curve;
Sensitivity and Specificity
- From:The Journal of the Korean Rheumatism Association
2003;10(1):16-22
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
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<0.001). The Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve showed that the area under the curve for sFas was 0.911. Using the cut-off value of 370.5 pg/ml, the sensitivity was 0.871 and the specificity was 0.846. However, we could not find any correlation between sFas levels and disease activity variables such as SLEDAI, complement, and anti-dsDNA antibodies. There was no significant difference in sFas levels between active (SLEDAI > 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.
