Ophthalmic Involvement in Systemic Erythematosus Lupus and Its Association with IFN-α Gene Expression
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Yes
Purpose
Interferon studies have highlighted the role of type I interferons in driving inflammatory pathways in lupus. However, few studies have been done to clarify the role of IFN-α in ocular involvement in Systemic Erythematosus Lupus (SLE). We aimed to verify the association between IFN-α genes signature and ophthalmic involvement in SLE.
Methods
We evaluated patients aged 18 years or older at Professor Alberto Antunes University Hospital - Alagoas, Brazil, who fulfilled 2019 EULAR/ACR criteria for SLE. Ophthalmic evaluation, SLEDAI-2K and blood samples were obtained on the same day. Isolation of mononuclear cells and RNA extraction were performed, followed by cDNA synthesis. The expression of the IFI27, IFI44L, IFIT1, ISG15, RSAD2, and SIGLEC1 genes was done via real-time PCR, using the reference genes RPLP0 and EEF1A1 for normalization. The median of the normalized relative quantity (NRQ) of the genes of each patient was used to calculate the fold change (FC) of the "Interferon Score". Statistical analysis was done with GraphPad Prism® 8.0, Mann-Whitney and Spearman tests.
Results
The sample consisted of 38 SLE patients. We identified Aqueous deficient dry eye and Lupus retinopathy in 22 patients, with a prevalence of eye involvement of 57.89% (22/38). Of these, 36.6% (8/22) had lupus retinopathy. 65% of the sample had active disease by SLEDAI-2K. We verified higher expression levels of IFN-α gene signature in SLE patients with eye involvement (FC= 2,52 ±1,96; p=0,0027) compared to those without eye SLE problems.
Conclusion
Upregulation of IFN-α genes in SLE patients with eye involvement was observed. This finding may be explained by the possible role of IFN-α in ocular inflammatory changes in lupus.
Conflict of interest
No
1
Last name
TEIXEIRA COSTA
Initials of first name(s)
R
Department
Ophthalmology division, Federal University of Alagoas, University Hospital
City
Maceio
Country
Brazil
2
Last name
FRAGOSO
Initials of first name(s)
T
Department
Rheumatology division, Federal University of Alagoas, University Hospital
City
Maceio
Country
Brazil
3
Last name
GUARANA
Initials of first name(s)
W
Department
Federal University of Pernambuco, Keizo Asami Institute
City
Recife
Country
Brazil
4
Last name
SANDRIN-GARCIA
Initials of first name(s)
P
Department
Federal University of Pernambuco, Genetic division
City
Recife
Country
Brazil
5
Last name
JUNIOR
Initials of first name(s)
B
Department
Federal University of Pernambuco, Keizo Asami Institute
City
Recife
Country
Brazil
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