Objective To determine plasma soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),and to analyze its association with the possibility of organs or systems involvement in lupus patients.Methods Plasma samples were collected from 96 SLE patients and 74 healthy controls,and sHLA-G levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.The sHLA-G levels in SLE patients and healthy controls were compared with students't-test.The difiefence of clinical and seroimmunological data among the SLE patients was assessed by chi-square test or students't-test.A value of P<0.05 was considered to be significant.Results Plasma concentration of sHLA-G was significanto higher in SLE patients than that in healthy controls[(230±192)U/ml vs(118±38)U/ml,P=0.0001].No relationship between plasma sHLA-G levels and SLE disease activity index(SLEDAI)was found(r=0.157,P=0.141).However,the patients with increased levels of sHLA-G had more severe disease activity (11±5 vs 8±5,P=0.027) and more central nervous system (CNS) involvement (24.2% vs 4.8%,P=0.007) in comparison with patients with normal plasma levels of sHLA-G.Conclusion The increased production sHLA-G,paralleled with more severe disease activity and higher CNS involvement,indicates that sHLA-G may play an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE.

0.05).However,the patients with increased levels of sHLA-G had higher incidence of central nervous system involvement(P=0.007) and more severe disease activity(P=0.027) in comparison with patients with normal plasma sHLA-G levels.Finally,the expression of plasma sHLA-G was not influenced by the treatment with glucocorticoids,immunosuppressive agents or antimalarials.Conclusion The increased production of sHLA-G indicates that sHLA-G may play an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE.The expression of sHLA-G may be associated with disease activity and severity of lupus patients,but be independence of HLA-G 14bp ins/del polymorphism and drug treatment.

ObjectiveTo determine the distribution of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene Apa Ⅰ and Bsm Ⅰ polymorphism in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the association with SLE in Chinese Han patients.MethodsGenomic DNA from 244 Chinese SLE patients and 162 sex and ethnically matched controls were typed for VDR Apa Ⅰand Bsm Ⅰpolymorphism combination by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Clinical characteristics were analyzed between different Apa ] and Bsm Ⅰ genotypes.ResultsThere was no significant difference between the distribution frequencies of allelic gene A and a in SLE patients and the controls,but the distribution frequency of genotypes heterozygote Aa in SLE patients was higher than that in the controls ( 38.9％ vs 22.2％,x2 =12.442,P =0.000).There was no significant difference between the distribution frequency of allelic gene and genotypes of Bsm Ⅰin SLE patients and the controls ( P ＞ 0.05 ).However,there was significant difference between the distribution frequencies of Apa Ⅰ and Bsm Ⅰ genotypes combination in SLE patients and the controls (x2 =18.226,P =0.006).The distribution frequency of genotypes Aa-bb in SLE patients was higher than that in the controls ( 32.4％ vs 17.9％,x2 =10.449 P =0.001 ),while the distribution frequency of genotypes Aa-bb in SLE patients was lower than that in the controls (30.3％ vs 42.0％,x2 =5.808,P =0.016). Furthermore,analyzing the effect of VDR Apa Ⅰand Bsm Ⅰ polymorphism combination to the symptoms of SLE,significant difference was observed in SLE patients carrying Aa-bb genotypes involved in serositis ( P =0.003 ),hematological system disorder ( P =0.021 ),and anti-Sm antibodies ( P =0.01 ) compared with other genotypes.ConclusionThere is significant association between Apa Ⅰ and Bsm Ⅰ gene polymorphism Aa-bb genotypes and the incidence of SLE in the Han population of China,and genotype Aa-bb is more involved in serositis,hematological system disorder and has a positive effect on production of antibodies.