Figure 3

Mannose receptor expression in systemic lupus erythematosus. Mannose receptor (MR) expression is not correlated with CD86 expression or prednisone use, but is associated with high serum IFNγ in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. (a) Correlation between CD86 expression and either FITC-dextran (FD) uptake or MR expression. In control dendritic cells (DCs) there is significant or near-significant negative correlation (*FD uptake: r = -0.76, P = 0.03; **MR expression: r = -0.46, P = 0.08), whereas there is no correlation in lupus DCs (FD uptake: r = -0.23, P = 0.46; MR expression: r = -0.33, P = 0.33). (b) Patients with higher levels of circulating IFNγ display lower expression of MR on autologous DCs. Graph displays patients with IFNγ levels >100 ng/ml (n = 3) compared with patients with lower plasma levels (n = 12; *P = 0.03). Results are expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean. (c) Prednisone dose does not correlate with MR expression or FD uptake. Graph shows the distribution of MR expression (black diamonds) and FD uptake (clear squares) relative to the prednisone dose.