Objective To observe the changes of mononuclear cell (MNCs) apoptosis and the level of inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to study the relationship between them. Methods The apoptosis of MNCs in 22 patients with SLE at the active stage and 10 patients with SLE at remission and 10 healthy controls were determined with flow cytometry. The inflammatory cytokines and the adhesion molecules were tested with ELISA method. Results The percentage of MNCs apoptosis in the patients with SLE at the active stage was significantly lower than that of healthy con- trols and the patients with SLE at remission. There was no significance difference of MNCs apoptosis between healthy controls and patients with SLE at remission. The levels of IL- 8, TNF-?, IL- 6 , NO, P- sel and ICAM- 1 in patients with SLE at the active stage were significantly higher than that of healthy controls and the pa- tients with SLE at remission, and the increased levels of inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules in ac- tive SLE patients were negatively correlated to the percentage of MNCs apoptosis and positively correlated to the severity of SLE. Conclusion The data demonstrates that there is a promote apoptotic process of MNCs in active SLE. The high expression of inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules may play an important role of promoting MNCs apoptosis which reduces the functional life span of MNCs. For this reason, modulating the expression of cytokines and adhesion molecules and moderately controlling the apoptosis of MNCs may be a new therapeutic target for SLE treatment.