Figure 3

Elevated chemokine scores in SLE patients with organ damage. Each symbol represents an individual patient; horizontal lines indicate median values. (a) Chemokine scores exhibited a positive trend toward elevation in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN; n = 26) relative to patients with inactive LN (n = 10) and those with no history of LN (n = 31). (b) In the cohort, 30 patients were receiving daily doses of prednisone under 30 mg at the time of blood draw. Among them, eight patients had current LN, seven had inactive LN and 15 had never experienced renal manifestations of SLE. Patients with active renal disease had significantly higher chemokine scores than those with inactive LN or without LN. (c) Chemokine scores were significantly elevated in SLE patients with chronic and irreversible organ damage (SDI score 1 to 2 or more) compared with those with no damage. (d) Among those patients whose daily dosage of prednisone was less than 30 mg, chemokine scores were also significantly higher in those with versus those without chronic organ damage. (e) Chemokine scores were calculated in four active LN patients at the beginning of and after 12 weeks of treatment. In patient (p) 1, p2 and p3 (who achieved significant clinical improvement after treatment) chemokine scores were notably decreased, whereas in p4 (who had rapidly progressed into renal failure) chemokine score was dramatically increased. LN, lupus nephritis; SDI, Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American Society of Rheumatology Damage Index; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus.