Lipid Peroxidation And Disease Activity In Chinese Han Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

Objective To explore the relationship of lipid oxidation and disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, and to discuss their clinical values for SLE.Methods SLE patients were in- and out- patients of the Rheumatology Department in Anhui Provincial Hospital, and paired health volunteers were recruited as controls. General information, chemical examination results and data of organ or system damage were collected by self-designed questionnaire. Plasma malonyldialdehyed (MDA), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAOC) were measured using spectrophotometric method. Plasma antinuclear antibody (ANA) and anti double stranded DNA (dsDNA) was quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EILSA). Variables were tested for skewness, and skewed continuous variables were logarithmically transformed. When appropriate, nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney U test) were used for comparisons between the groups, whereas student's t-test was used for normally distributed variables. Spearman's rank correlation was used to calculate correlation coefficients between lipid Peroxidation, anti-oxidation and clinical/laboratory indexes.Results Compared with control subjects, SLE patients exhibited elevated levels of MDA(Z=4.30, P<0.01), TAOC(t=3.59, P<0.01) and decreased level of T-SOD(t=-5.70, P<0.01). There was negative correlation between TAOC and ANA (r=-0.29, P<0.05), positive correlation between T-SOD and dsDNA (r=0.37, P<0.05), positive correlation between T-SOD and disease duration (r=0.42, P<0.05). The level of sera TAOC in patients with lower WBC number (t=-2.70, P<0.05) was lower, while in patients with no fever (t=1.99, P<0.05), IgG positive(t=2.01, P<0.05), IgM positive (t=2.19, P<0.05), IgA positive (t=1.91, P<0.05) was higher. Those without hypertension (t=-1.92, P<0.05), no tetter (t=-1.69, P<0.05), no kidney complication (t=-2.13, P<0.05), LA negative (t=-1.93, P<0.05) and ACA IgA negative (t=-1.63, P<0.05) exhibited lower sera MDA level. Patients with ACA IgM negative exihibited higher sera T-SOD level (t=2.26, P<0.05), and those with lower WBC number was lower in T-SOD (t=-2.57, P<0.05).Conclusions We found SLE patients exhibited elevated levels of lipid oxidation markers, which were significantly correlated with disease activity. The findings suggest that lipid peroxidation plays an important role in the pathogenesis and development of SLE.