title: Prevalence of T cell receptor zeta chain deficiency in systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) display antigen receptor-mediated signaling aberrations associated with defective T cell receptor (TCR) zeta chain expression. We determined the prevalence of TCR zeta chain deficiency in SLE from a large cohort of unselected racially diverse patients with different levels of clinical disease activity as determined by SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI). Our data show that the occurrence of TCR zeta chain deficiency is 78% in SLE patients. There was no relationship between the deficiency of TCR zeta chain and the SLEDAI scores or theapy. TCR zeta chain deficiency was also not associated with age, race or gender and persisted over a 3 year follow-up period. Thus, there is a high prevalence of TCR zeta chain deficiency in SLE patients that is independent of disease activity, and persists over time indicating an important role for TCR zeta chain deficiency in SLE pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Injury, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-7500, USA.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Nambiar
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Ceruti
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Malloy
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Tsokos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000172:deficiency*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000172:deficiency*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; C054979:antigen T cell receptor, zeta chain