title: Elevated serum level of growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) in systemic lupus erythematosus patients is associated with nephritis and cutaneous vasculitis.
abstract: Growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) is a serum protein involved in granulocyte, platelet and endothelium interaction, and is implicated in both anti-inflammatory response as well as platelet/leukocytes activation. We investigated serum Gas6 level in different clinical manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Data were collected in 83 patients with SLE and 40 non-lupus controls. The Gas6 levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results demonstrated that the Gas6 level was higher in SLE patients as compared to the non-lupus control subjects (SLE vs. non-lupus control, median [inter-quartile range (IQR)] 22.67 [19.40-28.60] vs. 18.97 [16.05-20.62] ng/mL, p < 0.01). Furthermore, Gas6 level was higher in patients with nephritis (nephritis vs. non-nephritis, median [IQR] 26.21 [21.17-31.61] vs. 22.22 [18.98-26.98] ng/mL, p = 0.03) and in patients with cutaneous vasculitis (vasculitis vs. non-vasculitis, median [IQR] 27.89 [23.24-34.26] vs. 22.30 [19.32-27.16] ng/mL, p = 0.03). Our results indicate that the serum Gas6 level is increased in SLE patients with lupus nephritis or cutaneous vasculitis, implicating a potential to serve as a SLE disease activity marker.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chien-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chung-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Hwei-Fang
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: I-Tsu
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Chyuan
authors.forename: Cheng-Ju
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Sheng-Kai
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ping-Ning
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D000099255:Growth Arrest-Specific Protein 6
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D000099255:Growth Arrest-Specific Protein 6