title: Association of large intergenic noncoding RNA expression with disease activity and organ damage in systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite growing evidence that large intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) can regulate gene expression and widely take part in normal physiological and disease conditions, our knowledge of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-related lincRNAs remains limited. The aim of this study was to detect the levels of four lincRNAs (ENST00000500949: linc0949, ENST00000500597: linc0597, ENST00000501992: linc1992, and ENST00000523995: linc3995) involved in innate immunity in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with SLE and correlate these lincRNA levels with disease activity, organ damage, clinical features and medical therapies.
  
  
  METHODS
  PBMCs were obtained from 102 patients with SLE, 54 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 76 healthy donors. lincRNA expression levels were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Disease activity was assessed using the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) scores, and organ damage was evaluated with the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index.
  
  
  RESULTS
  linc0949 and linc0597 were significantly decreased in patients with SLE compared with patients with RA and healthy control subjects. linc0949 was correlated with SLEDAI-2K score (r = -0.329, P = 0.0007), as well as with complement component C3 level (r = 0.348, P = 0.0003). The level of linc0949 was also reduced in patients with SLE who had the presence of cumulative organ damage. In addition, decreasing expression of linc0949 was associated with lupus nephritis. linc0949 expression significantly increased after treatment, whereas neither disease activity nor organ damage correlated with linc0597 expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results provide novel empirical evidence that linc0949 could be a potential biomarker for diagnosis, disease activity and therapeutic response in SLE.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shan Dong Middle Road, Shanghai, 200001, People's Republic of China. yanfangwv@163.com.
authors.forename: Yanfang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM) and Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, People's Republic of China. zhangfeifei1017@126.com.
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM) and Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, People's Republic of China. mjyoungs@163.com.
authors.forename: Jianyang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shan Dong Middle Road, Shanghai, 200001, People's Republic of China. xiaoyan_2008@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shan Dong Middle Road, Shanghai, 200001, People's Republic of China. lingling0403500@sjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shan Dong Middle Road, Shanghai, 200001, People's Republic of China. qubo.bio@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shan Dong Middle Road, Shanghai, 200001, People's Republic of China. xsw@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shiwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shan Dong Middle Road, Shanghai, 200001, People's Republic of China. slchena@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shunle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shan Dong Middle Road, Shanghai, 200001, People's Republic of China. tangyuanjia028@163.com.
authors.forename: Yuanjia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shan Dong Middle Road, Shanghai, 200001, People's Republic of China. nanshensibs@gmail.com.|Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM) and Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, People's Republic of China. nanshensibs@gmail.com.|Division of Rheumatology and the Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology (CAGE), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA. nanshensibs@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding