Department of Nephrology, Rheumatology and Immunology, Shanghai Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200062, China.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 8;13(1):11047. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-38092-y.
Childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can be more severe than adult patients. Early diagnosis and accurate evaluation of the disease are very important for the patients. Response gene to complement-32 (RGC-32) protein is the downstream regulator of C5b-9 complex which is the terminal pathway of complement activation. Complement system plays a very important role in the pathogenesis of SLE. RGC-32 in patients with SLE has not been reported yet. We aimed to examine the clinical value of RGC-32 in children with SLE. A total of 40 children with SLE and another 40 healthy children were enrolled for this study. Clinical data were obtained prospectively. Serum RGC-32 was determined by ELISA. We found that serum RGC-32 was significantly elevated in children with SLE than that in the healthy group. Serum RGC-32 was significantly higher in the children with moderately/severely active SLE than that in the children with no/mildly active SLE. Furthermore, serum RGC-32 level correlated positively with C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and ferritin and correlated negatively with white blood cell counts and C3. RGC-32 may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE. RGC-32 might become a good biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of SLE.
儿童起病系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）可能比成人患者更为严重。早期诊断和准确评估疾病对患者非常重要。补体 3 反应基因（RGC-32）蛋白是补体激活终末途径 C5b-9 复合物的下游调节因子。补体系统在 SLE 的发病机制中起着非常重要的作用。SLE 患者的 RGC-32 尚未见报道。我们旨在研究 RGC-32 在儿童 SLE 中的临床价值。本研究共纳入 40 例 SLE 患儿和 40 例健康儿童。前瞻性收集临床资料。采用 ELISA 法检测血清 RGC-32。结果显示，SLE 患儿血清 RGC-32 水平明显高于健康对照组。中重度活动组患儿血清 RGC-32 水平明显高于无/轻度活动组。此外，血清 RGC-32 水平与 C 反应蛋白、红细胞沉降率和铁蛋白呈正相关，与白细胞计数和 C3 呈负相关。RGC-32 可能参与了 SLE 的发病机制。RGC-32 可能成为 SLE 诊断和评估的一个良好生物标志物。
