ABSTRACT

Skin and kidney are commonly affected in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with similar molecular mechanisms. Although clinical indicators of renal injury in SLE are fairly uncontroversial, few biomarkers are reliable. The role of Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) in lupus nephritis (LN) pathogenesis has been investigated. The aim of work is to evaluate miRNA199 expression in SLE Egyptian patients and their association with LN. This is a case-control study involving 98 SLE patients with and without LN (LN and non-LN groups), and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were carried out to detect miRNA199 with quantitative Real-Time Polymerase chain reaction methods. The SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) was assessed. The mean disease duration was 5.9 ± 3.4 and 6.4 ± 4.4 months in LN and non-LN, and SLEDAI was 11.98 ± 5.3 and 10.5 ± 3.8 in LN and non-LN. miRNA199 expression was significantly decreased in patient groups compared to controls (1.01 ± 0.03) (P = 0.0001) and in LN (0.41 ± 0.21) compared to non-LN group (0.55 ± 0.15) (P = 0.002). There was no correlation between miRNA199 expression and SLEDAI or other clinical and laboratory data of the patients. In conclusion, miRNA199 may play a role in SLE activity and helping in the early diagnosis of LN.

摘要

皮肤和肾脏通常在具有相似分子机制的系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）中受到影响。尽管SLE中肾损伤的临床指标尚无争议，但很少有生物标记物是可靠的。已经研究了微RNA（miRNA）在狼疮性肾炎（LN）发病机理中的作用。工作的目的是评估miRNA199在SLE埃及患者中的表达及其与LN的关系。这是一项病例对照研究，涉及98位有或没有LN的SLE患者（LN和非LN组），并进行了20个年龄和性别匹配的健康对照，以定量实时聚合酶链反应方法检测miRNA199。评估了SLE疾病活动指数（SLEDAI）。LN和非LN的平均疾病持续时间为5.9±3.4和6.4±4.4个月，LN和非LN的SLEDAI为11.98±5.3和10.5±3.8。与非LN组（0.55±0.15）相比，与对照组（1.01±0.03）（P = 0.0001）和LN（0.41±0.21）相比，患者组中的miRNA199表达显着降低。miRNA199表达与SLEDAI或患者的其他临床和实验室数据之间没有相关性。总之，miRNA199可能在SLE活动中发挥作用，并有助于LN的早期诊断。