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Updated: Jul 3, 2026
Analyses of Proteinuria, Renal Infiltration of Leukocytes, and Renal Deposition of Proteins in Lupus-prone MRL/lpr Mice
Published on: June 8, 2022
[Study on the relationship between protein oxidation and disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus]
Qun Zhang1, Dong-Qing Ye, Guo-Ping Chen
1Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China.
Objective:
To examine the levels of protein oxidation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to evaluate the relation between oxidative protein damage and disease activity index.
Methods:
Plasma was collected from SLE patients and healthy subjects as controls. Protein-bound carbonyls, protein thiols, superoxide dismutase (SOD), myeloperoxidase (MPO) and total antioxidant capacity (TAOC) were determined by spectrophotometry. Levels of anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) and antinuclear antibody (ANA) were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results:
When comparing with the control subjects, SLE patients exhibited elevated levels of protein carbonyls [(0.101 +/- 0.033) nmol/mg, (0.061 +/- 0.019)nmol/mg, P < 0.01], degraded levels of protein thiols [(3.911 +/- 0.968) nmol/mg, (4.655 +/- 0.798) nmol/mg, P < 0.01] and activities of T-SOD [(67.01 +/- 12.22) U/ml, (97.35 +/- 14.11) U/ml, P < 0.01]. Levels of plasma protein thiols and activities of T-SOD were lower in SLE patients positive for anti-dsDNA antibody, compared with patients negative for anti-dsDNA antibody.
Conclusion:
We found that the elevated levels of multiple markers of protein oxidation and degraded activities of antioxidant enzymes in plasma from SLE patients existed when comparing with the controls, and the all the levels were correlated with disease activity. Our findings suggested that protein oxidation might play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic organ damage in SLE.