Gender differences of B cell signature related to estrogen-induced IFI44L/BAFF in systemic lupus erythematosus

- Gene trendline of SLE female is higher than that of SLE male;.
- There are more differentially expressed genes in SLE male vs healthy male than these in SLE female vs healthy female;.
- Estrogen-induced IFI44L/BAFF contributes to the difference between SLE male and female.
- Diagnosis and treatment of these immune-related diseases should consider the baseline gender-related differences.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) possesses a gender-dependent incidence characterized by a male/female ratio 1:9. B-cell, a vital part of the immune system, plays an important role in pathogenesis of SLE. Thus, we hypothesize that gender differences of B cells may exist in SLE and relate to the onset and the progression of SLE. Here, we showed that the genes expression pattern is similar between healthy female and male. However, SLE female and SLE male showed more upregulated genes, in which the trendline of SLE male is higher than that of SLE female. The most differentially expressed genes between SLE male patients and female patients are only on two chromosomes. While the differentially expressed genes between healthy male and female are distributed on several chromosomes. There are more differentially expressed genes in SLE male vs healthy male than these in SLE female vs healthy female. OAS3, RGS13, STAG3, IFI44L, STS-1, FERIL14, ZBTB16, USP18, USP41, RSAD2, FKBP5, IL1R2, DNAPTP6 and ILI27, which top 14 significantly upregulated mRNAs in SLE patients compared with healthy donors, showed different expression pattern in gender-based analyses. Furthermore, we revealed that this difference may be related to estrogen-induced IFI44L/BAFF. Therefore, we conclude that the diagnosis and treatment of these immune-related diseases should consider the baseline gender-related differences.