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- Idborg, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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STRATIFICATION OF SLE PATIENTS FOR IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
- 2013
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Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 72, s. A80-A80
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background. Systemic autoimmune diseases (SAIDs) affect about 2% of the population in Western countries. Sufficient diagnostic criteria are lacking due to the heterogeneity within diagnostic categories and apparent overlap regarding symptoms and patterns of autoantibodies between different diagnoses. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is regarded as a prototype for SAIDs and we hypothesise that subgroups of patients with SLE may have different pathogenesis and should consequently be subject to different treatment strategies.Objectives. Our goal is to find new biomarkers to be used for the identification of more homogenous patient populations for clinical trials and to identify sub-groups of patients with high risk of for example cardiovascular events.Methods. In this study we have utilised 320 SLE patients from the Karolinska lupus cohort and 320 age and gender matched controls. The SLE cohort was characterised based on clinical, genetic and serological data and combined by multivariate data analysis in a systems biology approach to study possible subgroups. A pilot study was designed to verify and investigate suggested subgroups of SLE. Two main subgroups were defined: One group was defined as having SSA and SSB antibodies and a negative lupus anticoagulant test (LAC), i.e., a “Sjögren-like” group. The other group was defined as being negative for SSA and SSB antibodies but positive in the LAC test.i.e. an “APS-like” group. EDTA-plasma from selected patients in these two groups and controls were analysed using a mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomic and metabolomic approach. Pathway analysis was then performed on the obtained data.Results. Our pilot study showed that differences in levels of proteins and metabolites could separate disease groups from population controls. The profile/pattern of involved factors in the complement system supported a division of SLE in two major subgroups, although each individual factor was not significantly different between subgroups. Complement factor 2 (C2) and membrane attack complex (MAC) were analysed in the entire cohort with complementary methods and C2 verifies our results while the levels of MAC did not differ between SLE subgroups. The generated metabolomics data clearly separated SLE patients from controls in both gas chromatography (GC)-MS and liquid chromatography (LC)-MS data. We found for example that tryptophan was lower in the SLE patients compared to controls.Conclusions. Our systems biology approach may lead to a better understanding of the disease and its pathogenesis, and assigning patients into subgroups will result in improved diagnosis and better outcome measures of SLE.
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| 2. |
- Idborg, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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Two subgroups in systemic lupus erythematosus with features of antiphospholipid or Sjogren's syndrome differ in molecular signatures and treatment perspectives
- 2019
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Ingår i: Arthritis Research & Therapy. - : BioMed Central. - 1478-6362 .- 1478-6354. ; 21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundPrevious studies and own clinical observations of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) suggest that SLE harbors distinct immunophenotypes. This heterogeneity might result in differences in response to treatment in different subgroups and obstruct clinical trials. Our aim was to understand how SLE subgroups may differ regarding underlying pathophysiology and characteristic biomarkers.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, including 378 well-characterized SLE patients and 316 individually matched population controls, we defined subgroups based on the patients' autoantibody profile at inclusion. We selected a core of an antiphospholipid syndrome-like SLE (aPL+ group; positive in the lupus anticoagulant (LA) test and negative for all three of SSA (Ro52 and Ro60) and SSB antibodies) and a Sjogren's syndrome-like SLE (SSA/SSB+ group; positive for all three of SSA (Ro52 and Ro60) and SSB antibodies but negative in the LA test). We applied affinity-based proteomics, targeting 281 proteins, together with well-established clinical biomarkers and complementary immunoassays to explore the difference between the two predefined SLE subgroups.ResultsThe aPL+ group comprised 66 and the SSA/SSB+ group 63 patients. The protein with the highest prediction power (receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve=0.89) for separating the aPL+ and SSA/SSB+ SLE subgroups was integrin beta-1 (ITGB1), with higher levels present in the SSA/SSB+ subgroup. Proteins with the lowest p values comparing the two SLE subgroups were ITGB1, SLC13A3, and CERS5. These three proteins, rheumatoid factor, and immunoglobulin G (IgG) were all increased in the SSA/SSB+ subgroup. This subgroup was also characterized by a possible activation of the interferon system as measured by high KRT7, TYK2, and ETV7 in plasma. In the aPL+ subgroup, complement activation was more pronounced together with several biomarkers associated with systemic inflammation (fibrinogen, -1 antitrypsin, neutrophils, and triglycerides).ConclusionsOur observations indicate underlying pathogenic differences between the SSA/SSB+ and the aPL+ SLE subgroups, suggesting that the SSA/SSB+ subgroup may benefit from IFN-blocking therapies while the aPL+ subgroup is more likely to have an effect from drugs targeting the complement system. Stratifying SLE patients based on an autoantibody profile could be a way forward to understand underlying pathophysiology and to improve selection of patients for clinical trials of targeted treatments.
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