RESUMEN
The study was undertaken to examine the clinical value of serum levels of soluble receptors of tumor necrosis factor-alpha with a molecular mass of 55 kDa (rTNF-alpha-55R) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The serum level of rTNF-alpha-55R was measured by enzyme immunoassay (a "Quantikine" set, R&D System, USA) in 73 patients with SLE and 22 donors. In the patients, the mean level of rTNF-alpha-55R was significantly higher than that in donors. Higher serum levels of rTNF-alpha-55R were noted in 43.8% of the patients with SLE. There was a correlation between the level of rTNF-alpha-55R and the progression of SLE (p < 0.05), the exacerbation (p < 0.05), and the clinical manifestations of the disease (cardiac valvular apparatus damage, active lupus nephritis). rTNF-alpha-55R are a marker of the progression and exacerbation of SLE and reflects that there is a prognostically poor factor, i.e. the involvement of the kidneys in a pathological process.
