title: Association between the Presence of Autoantibodies Targeting Ficolin-3 and Active Nephritis in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
abstract: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by the production of multiple autoantibodies. Antibodies against Ficolin-3 were previously identified in the sera of some SLE patients, but their prevalence and significance have not been yet investigated. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of anti-ficolin-3 antibodies among SLE patients and to investigate their potential as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers in SLE. In this retrospective study, sera from SLE patients (n = 165) were selected from a preexisting declared biological collection. Samples from healthy controls (n = 48) were matched with SLE sera. Disease activity was determined according to the SLEDAI score. Anti-ficolin-3, anti-dsDNA and anti-C1q antibodies levels were measured in sera by ELISA. First, a highly significant difference was found in the anti-ficolin-3 levels between SLE patients and healthy subjects. Anti-ficolin-3 antibodies were detected as positive in 56 of 165 (34%) SLE patients. The titer of anti-ficolin-3 antibodies was correlated with the SLEDAI score (r = 0.38, p<0.0001). The presence of anti-ficolin-3 antibodies was associated with anti-C1q and anti-dsDNA antibodies. Regarding associations with clinical manifestations, the presence of active lupus nephritis was significantly associated with the presence of anti-ficolin-3 antibodies (p≤0.001). This association with renal involvement was higher with anti-ficolin-3 or anti-C1q antibodies than with other auto-antibodies. Interestingly, the combination of anti-ficolin-3 and anti-C1q antibodies demonstrated higher specificity than any other serological biomarker. These results suggest that anti-ficolin-3 antibodies could be useful for the diagnosis of active nephritis in SLE patients.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunologie, pôle de Biologie, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Maëlle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Plawecki
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunologie, pôle de Biologie, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lheritier
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunologie, pôle de Biologie, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.|BNI team, TIMC-IMAG UMR5525 Université Grenoble Alpes, France.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Clavarino
authors.affiliation: UMR_S 1076, Vascular Research Center of Marseille, Faculté de médecine, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.|Centre de Néphrologie et Transplantation Rénale, CHU de la Conception, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Noémie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jourde-Chiche
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunologie, pôle de Biologie, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Saber
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ouili
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunologie, GIMAPEA3064, CIC1488 Vaccinology INSERM, CHU de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Univ Grenoble Alpes, IBS, Grenoble, France.|CNRS, IBS, Grenoble, France.|CEA, IBS, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gout
authors.affiliation: Clinique Universitaire de Médecine Interne, pôle pluridisciplinaire de Médecine et de Gérontologie Clinique, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sarrot-Reynauld
authors.affiliation: UMR_S 1076, Vascular Research Center of Marseille, Faculté de médecine, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.|Laboratoire d'Immunologie, Hôpital de la Conception, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bardin
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR_S 1136, Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Pierre-Yves
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Boëlle
authors.affiliation: Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital Européen, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chiche
authors.affiliation: Clinique Universitaire de Médecine Interne, pôle pluridisciplinaire de Médecine et de Gérontologie Clinique, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bouillet
authors.affiliation: Univ Grenoble Alpes, IBS, Grenoble, France.|CNRS, IBS, Grenoble, France.|CEA, IBS, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Thielens
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunologie, pôle de Biologie, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.|BNI team, TIMC-IMAG UMR5525 Université Grenoble Alpes, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Yves
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Cesbron
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunologie, pôle de Biologie, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.|BNI team, TIMC-IMAG UMR5525 Université Grenoble Alpes, France.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dumestre-Pérard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000276:immunology*; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; C109662:FCN3 protein, human; D006023:Glycoproteins; D037102:Lectins