RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Serum Levels of Ficolin-3 (Hakata Antigen) in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.080361
DO 10.3899/jrheum.080361
A1 Trine Andersen
A1 Lea Munthe-Fog
A1 Peter Garred
A1 Søren Jacobsen
YR 2009
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/02/04/jrheum.080361.abstract
AB Objective Ficolin-3 is a serum protein of putative importance in autoimmunity. Our objective was to investigate any differential expression of ficolin-3 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or its clinical subsets. Methods Serum levels of ficolin-3 (S-ficolin-3) were determined in 95 patients with SLE and 103 healthy controls using an ELISA. Results Median S-ficolin-3 was 56.1 μg/ml (range 0 to ≥ 87.3) and 32.4 μg/ml (10 to ≥ 87.3) in patients and controls, respectively (p < 0.001). Increased S-ficolin-3 was associated with hemolysis, positive Coombs test, and lymphopenia, but not with SLE Disease Activity Index scores or C-reactive protein. In one patient without detectable S-ficolin-3, the FCN3 gene appeared normal. Conclusion The elevation of S-ficolin-3 and its association with specific manifestations in SLE may indicate a pathogenetic role of ficolin-3 in SLE.