Table 1. Biomarkers in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

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
PAGE TOP