Enhanced transcript levels of CD48 in CD4+ T cells from systemic lupus erythematosus patients

It is known that CD48 regulates T-cell activation. We evaluated the transcriptional expression of CD48 in CD4+ T cells from 30 SLE patients and 30 healthy controls. CD48 mRNA levels were considerably higher in the patients group: 1.80 ± 1.41 versus 1.10 ± 0.50 (p = 0.023). An inverse correlation was obtained with respect to CD48 mRNA levels and age in the control group (r = −0.478, p = 0.007). None association was found between CD48 mRNA expression and levels of anti-dsDNA, complement, or lymphocyte counts. Alternatively, a statistically significant positive correlation was observed between CD48 transcript levels and SLEDAI values (r = 0.372, p = 0.042). The higher CD48 mRNA levels observed in CD4+ T cells from SLE patients and the positive correlation found with SLEDAI lead us to infer that an overexpression of the protein coded by this gene may have important consequences on the development of SLE.