Antagonist-mediated down-regulation of toll-like receptors increases the prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in systemic lupus erythematosus

Table 2 Clinical characteristics of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus #

	Group 1 (HPV-positive) (SLE patients = 15)	Group 2 (HPV-negative) (SLE patients = 31)
Clinical features
SLE duration, mean ± S.D.(range), year	18 ± 8 (6 to 36)	13 ± 6 (5 to 28) ^†
SLICC, median (IQR)	1 (0 to 2)	0 (0 to 1)
SLEDAI score, median (IQR)	2 (0 to 6)	2 (0 to 4)
Serological features
Serum complement C3, median (IQR), g/l	0.9 (0.7 to 1.1)	0.8 (0.6 to 1.0)
Serum complement C4, median (IQR), g/l	0.2 (0.1 to 0.3)	0.2 (0.1 to 0.3)
Elevated anti-dsDNA (> 100 IU/ml)	6 (40)	13 (42)
Anti-dsDNA titer, median (IQR), IU/ml	308 (210 to 591)	331 (93 to 572)
Major organ involvement ever
0	0 (0)	3 (10)
1	1 (7)	9 (29)
≥ 2	14 (93)	19 (61) ^†
Neuropsychiatric	3 (20)	10 (32)
Nephritis	12 (80)	17 (55)
Serositis	6 (40)	7 (23)
Hematologic	15 (100)	24 (77) ^†
Immunosuppressive therapy ever	15 (100)	29 (94)
Prednisolone	14 (93)	24 (77)
Hydroxychloroquine	12 (80)	15 (48) ^†
Azathioprine	9 (60)	16 (52)
Cyclophosphamide (oral or IV)	2 (13)	5 (16)
Cyclosporin A	2 (13)	7 (23)
Mycophenolate mofetil	3 (20)	5 (16)

^# Values are the number (percentage) unless otherwise indicated. * Refers to atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or squamous intraepithelial lesions. Anti-dsDNA, anti-double stranded DNA;
IQR, interquartile range; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; SLEDAI, systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index; SLICC, systemic lupus international collaborating clinics/Americal College of Rheumatology damage index. Group 1, SLE with positive HPV DNA; Group 2, SLE with negative HPV DNA; ^† P <0.05 comparing between SLE patients with and without HPV infection.

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