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The CXCL13 chemokine serves as a potential biomarker to diagnose systemic lupus erythematosus with disease activity

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Abstract

The aim of our study was to assess the regulatory response of the chemokine CXCL13 in the serum of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with disease activity and to evaluate its influence on the inflammatory process in SLE. Serum samples from 97 SLE patients, 49 non-SLE patients (23 patients with other autoimmune diseases and 26 patients with rheumatoid arthritis) and 50 healthy controls were analyzed for the concentration of CXCL13 using ELISA. The results indicated that the serum levels of CXCL13 were significantly higher in SLE patients than in non-SLE patients and healthy controls (p < 0.001). Moreover, the level of CXCL13 decreased as the level of anti-dsDNA IgG decreased after treatment between the anti-dsDNA-positive SLE patients and the anti-dsDNA-negative SLE patients. In addition, serum CXCL13 levels were correlated with SLEDAI in different activities of SLE, renal involvement and active LN. Furthermore, the level of CXCL13 was positively related to the SLEDAI, level of anti-dsDNA IgG, level of ESR and RAI of high-avidity IgG ANAs (HA IgG ANAs). Additionally, statically analysis revealed that CXCL13 would be a best diagnostic value for determining the disease activity of SLE due to its moderate sensitivity (93.5%), specificity (95%), PPV (98.6%), NPV (79.2%) and OR(95%CI,250(30.303–1000)), at a cut-off level of 15.27 pg/mL. First, we indicated that CXCL13 was elevated in SLE patients regardless of the presence or absence of anti-dsDNA IgG ANAs. Furthermore, HA IgG ANAs might affect the circulation of CXCL13. Therefore, the chemokine CXCL13 might be a risk factor influencing the inflammatory process in SLE.

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Some or all data, models or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (2017J01378).

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Author notes

  1. Yanli Zeng, Yan Zhang and Yiqiang Lin contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Clinical Laboratory, Zhongshan Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361004, China

    Yanli Zeng, Yan Zhang, Yiqiang Lin, JiaJia Wang, Longcan Jiang & Yun Xiao

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361004, China

    Xuelian Wang

  3. Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361004, China

    Qinggui Chen

  4. Department of Intensive Care Unit, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361004, China

    Qinghe Huang

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  1. Yanli Zeng
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  2. Yan Zhang
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  4. Xuelian Wang
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  9. Yun Xiao
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Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: Y-LZ, YZ, Y-Q L. Performed the experiments: X-L W, Q-G C, Q-H H. Analyzed the data: Y-LZ, YX. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: J-J W,L-C J. Wrote the paper: YX, Y-LZ. Revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content: Y-LZ. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yun Xiao.

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The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College Xiamen University and conforms to the ethical guidelines of the Declaration of HELSINKI. Requirement for individual patient consent forms was waived due to the retrospective, observational nature of the study.

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Zeng, Y., Zhang, Y., Lin, Y. et al. The CXCL13 chemokine serves as a potential biomarker to diagnose systemic lupus erythematosus with disease activity. Clin Exp Med 21, 611–619 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-021-00707-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-021-00707-x

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