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Blood Growth Factor Levels in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: High Neuregulin-1 Is Associated with
Evgeny A Ermakov1,2, Mark M Melamud1, Anastasiia S Boiko3
1Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia.
Insights
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients show higher levels of nerve growth factor beta (NGFβ) and neuregulin-1 beta (NRG-1β). Elevated NRG-1β is linked to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in SLE patients, suggesting a potential biomarker.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cardiology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients frequently experience cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
- While cytokines are studied in SLE pathogenesis, growth factors remain less explored.
- Understanding growth factor roles is crucial for managing SLE comorbidities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate serum growth factor levels in SLE patients.
- To determine the association between growth factors and comorbid CVDs in SLE.
- To evaluate specific growth factors: GM-CSF, NGFβ, GDNF, and NRG-1β.
Main Methods:
- Serum concentrations of four growth factors were measured using a Luminex multiplex assay.
- Samples were collected from SLE patients (n=35) and healthy controls (n=38).
- Statistical analysis compared growth factor levels between groups and correlated them with CVD presence.
Main Results:
- NGFβ and NRG-1β levels were significantly higher in SLE patients compared to healthy individuals.
- GM-CSF and GDNF levels did not show significant differences between groups.
- Elevated NRG-1β levels were strongly associated with the presence of CVDs in SLE patients (AUC = 0.67).
Conclusions:
- Altered growth factor levels, particularly NRG-1β, may be linked to CVDs in SLE.
- NRG-1β shows potential as a biomarker for cardiovascular comorbidity in SLE.
- Further research into growth factor involvement in SLE pathogenesis and CVD is warranted.
Abstract:
Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are known to frequently suffer from comorbid cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). There are abundant data on cytokine levels and their role in the pathogenesis of SLE, while growth factors have received much less attention. The aim of this study was to analyze growth factor levels in SLE patients and their association with the presence of comorbid CVDs. The serum concentrations for the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), nerve growth factor β (NGFβ), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and neuregulin-1 β (NRG-1β) were determined in the SLE patients (n = 35) and healthy individuals (n = 38) by a Luminex multiplex assay. The NGFβ and NRG-1β concentrations were shown to be significantly higher in the total group of SLE patients (median [Q1-Q3]: 3.6 [1.3-4.5] and 52.5 [8.5-148], respectively) compared with the healthy individuals (2.9 [1.3-3.4] and 13.7 [4.4-42] ng/mL, respectively). The GM-CSF and GDNF levels did not differ. Interestingly, elevated NRG-1β levels were associated with the presence of CVDs, as SLE patients with CVDs had significantly higher NRG-1β levels (99 [22-242]) compared with the controls (13.7 [4.4-42]) and patients without CVDs (19 [9-80] ng/mL). The model for the binary classification of SLE patients with and without CVDs based on the NRG-1β level had an average predictive ability (AUC = 0.67). Thus, altered levels of growth factors may be associated with comorbid CVDs in SLE patients.
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