From: Potential Biomarkers in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Candidate biomarkers | Utility in SLE | Notes |
---|---|---|
Immune cell subsets | ||
CD4+ T lymphocytes | ||
T helper 1 cells | disease activity | mucocutaneous involvement and lupus nephritis (LN) |
T helper 2 cells | disease activity | produce interferon (IFN)-γ |
T helper 17 cells | disease activity | main source of interleukin (IL)-17; LN |
Follicular helper T cells | disease activity | debates on which one is authentically flare-correlated |
Peripheral helper T cells | ||
Regulatory helper T cells | disease activity | defective regulation; LN |
Age-associated T helper cells | disease activity | |
CD8+ T lymphocytes | disease activity | |
Double-negative T cells | disease activity | important source of IL-17 |
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells | disease activity | produce type I IFNs |
B lymphocytes | disease activity | B cell-targeted therapy and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T therapy |
Autoantibodies | ||
Antibodies to double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) | diagnosis | diagnostic criteria |
disease activity | LN | |
Antibodies to Smith antigen (anti-Sm) | diagnosis | diagnostic criteria; low sensitivity |
disease activity | LN | |
Antibodies to ribosomal proteins (anti-RibP) | diagnosis | low sensitivity |
disease activity | central nervous system (CNS) lupus | |
Antibodies to small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (anti-snRNP) | disease activity | CNS lupus |
Antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) | disease activity | CNS lupus (?) |
Cytokines and chemokines | ||
BAFF/APRIL system: | ||
B cell-activating factor (BAFF), A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) | disease activity | cardiovascular involvement and LN |
Type I IFNs: IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-ω | disease activity | LN |
Type II IFNs: IFN-γ | disease activity | |
Surrogate IFN-regulated markers: | ||
Interferon γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), Galectin 9 (Gal-9), Sialic acid binding Ig-like lectin 1 (SIGLEC1) | diagnosis (SIGLEC1 only) | better for excluding SLE in suspected cases |
disease activity | lack of adequate and convincing evidence | |
Interleukin-1 families: | ||
IL-1Receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), IL-18, IL-36α, IL-36γ, IL-1R2, soluble IL-1R4, Soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 protein (sST2) | diagnosis (IL-1Ra only) | |
disease activity | not specific to organ | |
IL-6 | disease activity | not specific to organ |
IL-17 | disease activity | LN |
IL-23 | disease activity | LN |
Complement system | ||
C3, C4, CH50 | diagnosis | diagnostic criteria |
disease activity | unstable correlation | |
C3a | disease activity | thrombophilia |
C3dg | diagnosis |