Interferon-induced protein IFIT4 is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus and promotes differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cell-like cells

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the study subjects

Characteristic	SLE patients	Healthy donors	P
Participants (n)	108	46	-
Age (years)	32.52 ± 11.97	32.5 ± 14.32	0.83
Sex (n; female/male)	96/12	40/6	0.62
Onset age (years)	27.14 ± 10.0	NA	-
Disease duration (years)	5.4 ± 4.13	NA	-
SLEDAI-2K score (mean [range])	6 (3 to 8)	NA	-
Mean ESR (mm/hour)	61.58 ± 24.03	NA	-
Medical therapy (n)
Prednisone >60 mg/day	11	NA	-
Prednisone 30 to 60 mg/day	44	NA	-
Prednisone 0 mg/day	6	NA	-
CTX	35	NA	-
FIT4 relative expression	37.84 ± 3.52	10.58 ± 2.64	0.00

All patients were of Chinese ethnicity. Unless stated otherwise, values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. CTX, cyclophosphamide; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; IFIT4, interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 4; NA, not applicable; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; SLEDAI-2K, SLE Disease Activity Index 2,000.

ISSN: 1478-6362