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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1461987

Increased Serum Human Epididymis Protein 4 is Associated with Disease Activity and Systemic Involvement in Pediatric-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Provisionally accepted
Chenxi Liu Chenxi Liu Lingyi Yan Lingyi Yan *Menglan Zhang Menglan Zhang *Yifei Duan Yifei Duan *Jie Luo Jie Luo *Zhijun Liu Zhijun Liu *Ting Liu Ting Liu Jiyu Tong Jiyu Tong Yongmei Jiang Yongmei Jiang *
  • West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    We aimed to investigate human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) as a potential biomarker in patients with pediatric-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE), particularly on the association of serum HE4 levels with disease activity and other laboratory tests.We included 137 patients with pSLE and 75 age-and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs).Serum HE4 level was measured by a chemiluminescent microparticle on an Abbott ARCHITECT i2000SR Immunoassay Analyzer. Comparisons between groups were performed using the independent Student t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. We also determined the relationships between HE4 and clinical parameters and evaluated disease activity using SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and renal SLEDAI (rSLEDAI).Serum HE4 levels in patients with pSLE (44.6 pmol/L; IQR, 32.5-73.5) were significantly higher than those in HCs (38.9 pmol/L; IQR, 34-46.1). HE4 levels were significantly higher in moderate to severe disease activities (57.4 pmol/L, IQR 37.7-164.5) than in mild disease activities (38.8 pmol/L, IQR 30.1-48.5) or HCs (38.9 pmol/L, IQR 34.0-46.1), as well as in active renal disease activities (77.2 pmol/L, IQR 47.4-224.1) than in inactive renal disease 2 activities (36.1 pmol/L, IQR 27.8-46.7). The ROC curve analysis showed that HE4 could discriminate pSLE with renal (AUC, 0.717; 95% CI, 0.632-0.801), hematological (AUC, 0.740; 95% CI, 0.648-0.831), and cardiovascular involvement (AUC:0.775, 95% CI 0.669-0.880).Serum HE4 levels significantly correlated with several indicators related to renal morbidity, such as creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, cystatin C, urine protein/24 h, etc.Serum HE4 levels in pSLE were elevated and highly associated with disease activity and systemic involvement, indicating HE4 as a potential biomarker for pSLE.

    Keywords: Correlation, Human epididymis protein 4, Lupus Nephritis, pediatric-onset systemic lupus erythematosus, biomarker

    Received: 09 Jul 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Yan, Zhang, Duan, Luo, Liu, Liu, Tong and Jiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Lingyi Yan, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China
    Menglan Zhang, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China
    Yifei Duan, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China
    Jie Luo, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China
    Zhijun Liu, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China
    Yongmei Jiang, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China

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