Mannose binding lectin: a biomarker of systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity.
BACKGROUND
A role for mannose binding lectin (MBL) in autoimmune diseases has been demonstrated earlier and elevated level of MBL has been shown in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. In the current study, we investigated MBL as a potential biomarker for disease activity in SLE.


METHODS
In a case control study SLE patients (93 females) and 67 age, sex, ethnicity matched healthy controls were enrolled. Plasma MBL levels were quantified by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Clinical, serological and other markers of disease activity (C3, C4 and anti-dsDNA) were measured by standard laboratory procedures.


RESULTS
Plasma MBL levels were significantly high in SLE patients compared to healthy controls (P < 0.0001). MBL levels were variable in different clinical categories of SLE. Lower levels were associated with musculoskeletal and cutaneous manifestations (P = 0.002), while higher and intermediate MBL levels were significantly associated with nephritis in combination with other systemic manifestations (P = 0.01 and P = 0.04 respectively). Plasma MBL correlated with systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) (P = 0.0003, r = 0.36), anti-dsDNA (P < 0.0001, r = 0.54), proteinuria (P < 0.0001, r = 0.42) and negatively correlated with C3 (P = 0.007, r = -0.27) and C4 (P = 0.01, r = -0.29).


CONCLUSIONS
Plasma MBL is a promising marker in the assessment of SLE disease activity.
Aditya K
AK
Panda
Jyoti R
JR
Parida
Rina
R
Tripathy
Sarit S
SS
Pattanaik
Balachandran
B
Ravindran
Bidyut K
BK
Das
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000378:metabolism; D003181:Complement C4 / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D015415:Biomarkers; D003176:Complement C3; D003181:Complement C4; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin