Patients’ characteristics
| Characteristics of patients with SLE (n=10) | Normal range | |
| Sex (male/female) | 2/8 | |
| Age (years) | 38.6 (21–68) | |
| Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) score | 12 (8–24) | |
| Anti-dsDNA antibodies (kU/L) | 327 (42–1286) | <100 |
| C3 (g/L) | 0.65 (0.42–1.9) | 0.9–1.8 |
| C4 (g/L) | 0.08 (0.07–0.3) | 0.1–0.4 |
| Treatment (number of patients) | ||
| Hydroxychloroquine | 8 | |
| Prednisolone | 5 | |
| Azathioprine | 2 | |
| Organ involvement | ||
| Fever (>38.3°C) | 1 | |
| Delirium | 0 | |
| Psychosis | 1 | |
| Seizure | 0 | |
| Non-scarring alopecia | 3 | |
| Oral ulcers | 2 | |
| Subacute cutaneous or discoid lupus | 7 | |
| Acute cutaneous lupus | 2 | |
| Pleural or pericardial effusion | 2 | |
| Acute pericarditis | 0 | |
| Joint involvement | 5 | |
| Proteinuria (>0.5 g/24 hours) | 2 | |
| Lupus nephritis | 1 | |
| Laboratory parameter | ||
| ANA ≥1:80 | 10 | |
| Leucopenia (<4.000 /mm3) | 3 | |
| Thrombocytopenia (<100.000 /mm3) | 2 | |
| Autoimmune haemolysis | 0 | |
| Antiphospholipid antibodies | 3 | |
| Low C3 or low C4 | 6 | |
| Low C3 and low C4 | 3 | |
| Anti-dsDNA or anti-Sm antibodies | 10 | |
| Characteristics of healthy controls (n=9) | ||
| Sex (male/female) | 2/9 | |
| Age (years) | 31.6 (24–62) | |