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Published on: October 7, 2009
A cost-optimized 5-protein panel revolutionizes systemic lupus erythematosus diagnosis
Wenhua Lv1, Zhenwei Shang1, Chen Sun1
1College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
Plos Computational Biology
|July 23, 2026
Summary
This study identified novel plasma protein biomarkers for early systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) diagnosis. A protein risk score achieved high accuracy, offering a cost-effective diagnostic tool.
Area of Science:
- Biomarkers
- Immunology
- Proteomics
Background:
- Early diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is challenging due to a lack of reliable biomarkers.
- Current diagnostic methods may not fully capture the complexity of SLE.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and evaluate diagnostic plasma protein biomarkers for SLE.
- To develop a protein-based risk score for SLE detection.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of plasma protein profiles, polygenic risk scores (PRS), and clinical data from UK Biobank participants (544 SLE cases, 48,036 controls).
- Utilized LASSO regression to identify SLE-associated proteins and derive a protein risk score (ProtRS).
Main Results:
- Identified 35 high-confidence SLE-associated proteins and developed a ProtRS model with AUC=0.91.
- A cost-optimized 5-protein panel achieved AUC=0.82, reducing costs by ~87%.
- ProtRS demonstrated a high population attributable fraction (96.34%) for SLE.
Conclusions:
- A protein-driven framework offers a promising approach for early SLE detection.
- Tiered diagnostic solutions balancing accuracy and cost are feasible using protein biomarkers.
- Findings highlight the translational potential of protein biomarkers in clinical practice.
