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Table 1 Characteristics of the cohort

From: High levels of circulating interferons type I, type II and type III associate with distinct clinical features of active systemic lupus erythematosus

Characteristics

SLE, n = 497

Population controls, n = 322

p value

Age, M (SD)

46 (15)

47.8 (14.7)

ns

Gender (male/female)

67/429

26/296

ns

Caucasians

89%

97%

< 0.0001

Current smoking

18.5%

14%

ns

Malar rash

48.5%

 

Discoid rash

18%

 

Photosensitivity

63%

 

Oral ulceration

34%

 

Arthritis

82%

 

Serositis

40%

 

Nephritis

42%

 

Neuropsychiatric (NPSLE)

11.5%

 

Leukopenia

48%

 

Lymphopenia

54%

 

Thrombocytopenia

20%

 

Haemolytic anaemia

6%

 

Positive ANA, ever

99%

nd

 

Positive anti-dsDNA, ever

67%

nd

 

SLAM > 6

49%

 

SLEDAI > 6

26%

 

SDI > 0

64%

 

Arterial events

11%

1.25%

< 0.0001

Venous thromboembolic events

16.5%

1.25%

< 0.0001

Any vascular events

24%

2.5%

< 0.0001

Prednisolone dose^, M (SD)

9 (45) mg

na

 

Prednisolone 10 mg or more

25%

na

 

Mean and standard deviation of the measurements

 Type I IFN activity

12.1 (36)

1.3 (1.5)

< 0.0001

 IFN-α pg/ml

161.4 (161)

45.1 (69)

0.0002

 IFN-γ pg/ml

25.9 (79)

13.5(69)

0.02

 IFN-λ1 pg/ml

811.2 (1989)

472.3 (1208)

0.01

Proportions of the groups with high IFN levels

 Type I IFN activityH (score > 5.5)

25%

2%

< 0.0001

 

25%

6.5%

< 0.0001

 IFN-αH

25%

14.5%

0.003

 IFN-γH (> 19.5 pg/ml)

25%

6.5%

< 0.0001

 IFN-λ1H

25%

13.5%

0.0009

  1. Characteristics of SLE, as defined by 1982 ACR SLE classification criteria, if ever observed [23]. Student t test and Mann-Whitney tests were used for comparison
  2. SLAM, systemic lupus activity measure; SLEDAI, SLE Disease Activity Index; SDI, SLE disease damage index; arterial events, objectively verified coronary heart disease or stroke; venous thromboembolic events, pulmonary or/and deep venous thrombosis, any vascular events include history of either arterial or venous events, or both; nd, not done, na, not applicable
  3. HPatients with IFN levels over the third quartile were defined as high expressers
  4. ^Prednisolone dose or bioequivalent steroid dose