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Introduction: Lupus nephritis is a serious organ involvement with unknown etiology, and glomerulonephritis class IV is one of the most severe forms of the disease which correlates with poor prognosis and death. Immunological abnormalities are implicated in the expression of lupus nephritis. In this study, we examined some T helper 17 and regulatory T-related cytokines and molecules in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with glomerulonephritis class IV., Materials and Methods: The study group comprised of 20 glomerulonephritis class IV SLE patients and 20 sex- and age-matched SLE patients without kidney involvement as control group. Blood samples was collected from each participant, lymphocytes were isolated, and RNA was extracted from lymphocytes. Then cDNA was synthesized using reverse transcription enzyme, and finally using specific primers and probes, the expression levels of forkhead box P3 (Foxp3), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-17 genes were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction based on the TaqMan method., Results: The expression levels of IL-6, IL-17, IFN-γ, and Foxp3 genes were significantly higher in SLE patients with glomerulonephritis class IV than those with non-nephritis SLE. However, the expression of TGF-β was not significantly different between the SLE patients with and without glomerulonephritis class IV involvement., Conclusions: According to our results, it seems that in class IV glomerulonephritis patients, increased Foxp3-producing regulatory T cells has an imperfect capacity to control the pathogenic IL-17- and IFN-γ-producing cells.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease in which organs undergo damage. Hypoparathyroidism is a rare disease, which presents in two forms: hereditary and acquired. Cases of hypoparathyroidism and SLE rarely co-exist. Only six cases have been reported; five of them first presented with lupus and then hypoparathyroidism or simultaneously. We present here developing lupus disease in a woman who had idiopathic hypoparathyroidism. According to increasing data about the autoimmune origin of idiopathic hypoparathyroidism, these case reports suggest that there may be an autoimmune process linking these diseases.

The heterogeneity in systemic lupus erythematosus research topics poses a challenge for the entire lupus community, from basic geneticists to clinical investigators. As such, it is critical for medical professionals to remain up to date on directions in lupus research and the main fields in which this research is being conducted (e.g., etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes). This article develops two multi-label text-classification models using Deep Neural Networks and Convolutional Neural Networks to classify the human-based adult-onset lupus–related articles in the PubMed database based on their abstract, keywords, and MeSH terms. During training evaluation, our models correctly indicated all relevant labels for 70% of the articles. The applied machine learning models (Deep Neural Network and Convolutional Neural Network) yielded a Micro-F1 score of 0.89, meaning that it successfully labeled the most relevant medical domains and types. In addition, these types of studies help the researchers be aware of the essential topics in this field, but due to difficulties in designing, the related studies are ignored or fade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): Lupus nephritis (LN) is the main cause of mortality and disability in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Therefore, utilizing a reliable and non-invasive method for serial measurements of renal function seems to be necessary. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of urinary lipocalin-2 as a biomarker of renal involvement in SLE patients. Materials and Methods: Fifty two lupus patients in this cross sectional study were divided into two groups: patients with and without nephritis. For each group, urinary lipocalin-2, values were measured and reported according to urinary lipocalin-2/creatinine. Urinary lipocalin-2/creatinine sensitivity and specificity for identifying biopsy-proven nephritis were calculated, and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed. Results: The mean urinary lipocalin-2/creatinine value of patients with biopsy-proven LN was 2.99 ± 4.1 ng/mg, and in non-LN patients was 1.16 ± 1.27 ng/mg. Urinary lipocalin-2/creatinine levels in LN patients were significantly higher than those in non-LN patients (P-Value = 0.03). In LN patients, urinary lipocalin-2/creatinine significantly correlated with proteinuria (r = 0.68; P = 0.0001). Using a cutoff value of 0.896 ng/mg, urinary lipocalin-2/creatinine had a sensitivity of 89.7% and a specificity of 39.1% for identifying SLE patients with biopsy-proven LN. The area under the ROC curve was 0.664 ± 0.076 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.52-0.81 (P=0.04). Analysis of variance showed that urinary lipocalin-2/creatinine is the same in different classes of LN (P-value=0.28). Conclusion: An important clinical conclusion is that measurement of urinary Lipocalin-2 may result in earlier diagnosis of LN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vitamin D has immunomodulatory function. Polymorphisms of the gene encoding the vitamin D receptor detected by BsmI may be source of diversity in its action. An association between vitamin D receptor gene BsmI polymorphisms and lupus nephritis has been reported. This study was performed to evaluate vitamin D receptor gene BsmI polymorphisms in lupus nephritis. Methods: Twenty nine patients with lupus nephritis enrolled in this study. Vitamin D receptor gene typing was performed based on polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Finding: Vitamin D receptor genotyping of BsmI polymorphisms was 20.6% for BB, 51.7% for Bb, and 27.5% for bb without statistically significant difference (P = 0.090). In 21 patients that renal biopsy was done, the Bb genotype was the most (42.8%). There was not any correlation between renal histology and vitamin D receptor gene BsmI polymorphisms (P = 0.068). Conclusion: There was no relationship between vitamin D receptor gene BsmI polymorphisms and lupus nephritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Soluble Fas (sFas) is a marker of apoptosis that appears to increase in the serum of systemic lupus erythematosus patients and may have a correlation with disease activity. The exact role of sFas in apoptosis is not clear. The purpose of this study is to assess the correlation between serum levels of soluble Fas (Apo/1-CD95) and the activity of systemic lupus erythematosus. Patients and Methods: Our study was performed on 114 systemic lupus erythematosus patients who were compared with 50 randomly selected sex, age and race-matched healthy controls. Disease activity was defined according to the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI-2K). All physical exams and laboratory parameters were collected to determine the SLEDAI. sFas levels were determined using a commercially available ELISA kit. Results: There was a significant difference between serum levels of sFas in the case and control groups (P=0.001). A significant correlation coefficient existed between the sFas and SLEDAI2K variables (P=0.001, r=0.494). Significant statistical difference was found between serum levels of sFas in the active and inactive phases of disease according to SLEDAI= 9 or≥10, (P=0.002). The sFas levels were 270 - 300 pg/mL for SLEDAI≤9 and 355-502 pg/mL for SLEDAI≥10, with a confidence interval of 95%. Conclusion: This study shows a significant elevation of sFas levels in the sera of systemic lupus erythematosus patients with active disease; therefore it can be used as an appropriate marker for evaluation of disease activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]