Immunological profile and dyslipidemia in Egyptian Systemic Lupus Erythematosus patients

Aim of the workTo study the relation of the immune profile to dyslipidemia in a cohort of Egyptian Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients.Patients and methodsThis study included 221 SLE patients with a disease duration >6 months at study entry. Disease activity was assessed using the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and severity using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/Damage Index (SLICC/DI). Patients were investigated for the anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), anti-double stranded deoxy-ribonucleic acid (anti-dsDNA), anti-cardiolipin (ACL) antibodies (IgG and IgM), anti Ro (SSA) and anti La (SSB). Dyslipidemia was considered if the high density lipoproteins (HDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL), total cholesterol (TC) or triglycerides (TG) were abnormal.ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 28.8 ± 7.8 years and the median disease duration was 5 years. The clinical manifestations of the patients were pleurisy (52.9%), pericarditis (24.9%), nephritis (68.3%), CNS lupus (23.1%), vasculitis (14.9%) and musculoskeletal manifestations (57.9%). All patients were on corticosteroids (median dose 35 mg/day; range 5-80 mg/day), while 92 (43.4%) of them received cyclophosphamide during their disease course. The mean SLEDAI was 12.1 ± 7.4 and SLICC/DI was 1.4 ± 1.6. Patients with positive anti-Ro (n = 44; 19.9%) showed statistically significant lower level of HDL (p = 0.01).ConclusionPositive anti-Ro may be associated with increased incidence of low HDL in lupus patients which in turn may increase the incidence of cardiovascular accidents.