Transcriptomic Features of systemic lupus erythematosus Patients in Flare and Changes during Acute In-Hospital Treatment.
Rheumatology (Oxford)
; 2023 Dec 23.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38141203
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease with varying symptoms and multi-organ damage. Relapse-remission cycles often persist for many patients for years with the current treatment. Improved understanding of molecular changes caused by SLE flare and intensive treatment may result in more targeted therapies.METHODS:
RNA-sequencing was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 65 SLE patients in flare, collected both before (SLE1) and after (SLE2) in-hospital treatment, along with 15 healthy controls (HC). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified among the three groups. Enriched functions and key molecular signatures of the DEGs were analyzed and scored to elucidate the transcriptomic changes during treatment.RESULTS:
Few upregulated genes in SLE1 vs HC were affected by treatment (SLE2 vs SLE1), mostly functional in interferon signalling (IFN), plasmablasts, and neutrophils. IFN and plasmablast signatures were repressed, but the neutrophil signature remained unchanged or enhanced by treatment. The IFN and neutrophil scores together stratified the SLE samples. IFN scores correlated well with leukopenia, while neutrophil scores reflected relative cell compositions but not cell counts.CONCLUSIONS:
In-hospital treatment significantly relieved SLE symptoms with expression changes of a small subset of genes. Notably, IFN signature changes matched SLE flare and improvement, while enhanced neutrophil signature upon treatment suggested the involvement of low-density granulocytes (LDG) in disease development.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Rheumatology (Oxford)
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article