Correlation between monocyte subset distribution in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and disease status

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-8640.2026.01.004

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the correlation between peripheral blood monocyte subsets and disease status in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus（SLE）. Methods A total of 67 SLE patients（SLE group）and 46 healthy subjects（healthy control group）were enrolled from the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from January to August 2022. The general data such as age and gender and the determination results of the percentage of monocytes（MO%），the percentage of classical monocytes（CM%），the percentages of intermediate monocytes（IM%），the percentages of non-classical monocytes（NCM%）and disease activity indicators [the absolute value of monocytes（MO#），erythrocyte sedimentation rate（ESR），C-reactive protein（CRP），complement（C）3，C4，anti-double-stranded DNA（dsDNA）antibody，anti-nuclear antibody （ANA）] were collected. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between MO#，CM%，IM% and disease activity indicators of SLE patients. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influencing factors of SLE disease activity. Receiver operating characteristic（ROC）curve was used to evaluate the efficacy of CM% and IM% in diagnosing SLE. Results Compared with healthy control group，MO#，MO% and IM% in SLE group were increased（P<0.001），CM% was decreased（P<0.001），and there was no statistical significance in NCM%（P>0.05）. MO#，MO% and IM% in SLE remission group were increased（P<0.05），while CM% and NCM% were not statistically significant（P>0.05）. Compared with SLE remission group，CM% in SLE active group was decreased（P<0.001），IM% was increased（P<0.001），and there was no statistical significance in MO#，MO% and NCM%（P>0.05）. CM% was negatively correlated to CRP and anti-dsDNA antibody levels in SLE active group（P<0.05），and it was positively correlated to C3 and C4 levels（P<0.05）. IM% was positively correlated with CRP and anti-dsDNA antibody levels（P<0.05），and it was negatively correlated to C4 level（P<0.05）. Age being younger and IM% being higher were risk factors for disease activity in SLE patients [odds ratios（OR）were 0.948 and 2.410，95% confidence intervals（CI）were 0.900-0.998 and 1.386-4.192，P<0.05]. The areas under curves（AUC）of CM% and IM% for diagnosing SLE were 0.785 and 0.827，respectively，and the AUC for evaluating SLE disease activity were 0.951 and 0.966，respectively. Conclusions The distribution of monocyte subsets is related to the disease activity of SLE，and it may be a new biomarker for the diagnosis and assessment of SLE disease activity.

Key words: Monocyte subset, Classical monocyte, Intermediate monocyte, Non-classical monocyte, Systemic lupus erythematosus

CLC Number:

R446.1

YIN Xiushan, TAN Xueling, HE Rendong, XING Yan. Correlation between monocyte subset distribution in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and disease status[J]. Laboratory Medicine, 2026, 41(1): 20-27.

Figures/Tables 10

References 35

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组别	例数	性别		年龄/岁	ESR/（mm·h-1）	CRP/（mg·L^-1）
组别	例数	男/例	女/例	年龄/岁	ESR/（mm·h-1）	CRP/（mg·L^-1）
SLE活动组	33	3	30	39.50（30.75，51.25）	14（10，22）	2.07（0.68，5.63）
SLE缓解组	34	4	30	41.00（33.25，52.25）	8（2，18）	0.76（0.29，2.07）
正常对照组	46	4	42	41.07（31.50，52.00）
统计值		0.232		2.592	370.50	217.50
P值		0.891		0.274	0.016	0.037
组别	C3/（mg·L^-1）			C4/（mg·L^-1）	抗dsDNA抗体/（IU·mL^-1）	ANA滴度
SLE活动组	753.0（653.5，879.0）			161.0（123.0，244.0）	15.84（2.94，63.38）	1（0，2）
SLE缓解组	756.5（679.8，882.3）			171.0（127.3，224.5）	1.70（1.00，11.70）	1（0，1）
正常对照组
统计值	525.00			546.50	312.50	474.00
P值	0.656			0.856	0.002	0.246

组别	例数	性别		年龄/岁	ESR/（mm·h-1）	CRP/（mg·L^-1）
组别	例数	男/例	女/例	年龄/岁	ESR/（mm·h-1）	CRP/（mg·L^-1）
SLE活动组	33	3	30	39.50（30.75，51.25）	14（10，22）	2.07（0.68，5.63）
SLE缓解组	34	4	30	41.00（33.25，52.25）	8（2，18）	0.76（0.29，2.07）
正常对照组	46	4	42	41.07（31.50，52.00）
统计值		0.232		2.592	370.50	217.50
P值		0.891		0.274	0.016	0.037
组别	C3/（mg·L^-1）			C4/（mg·L^-1）	抗dsDNA抗体/（IU·mL^-1）	ANA滴度
SLE活动组	753.0（653.5，879.0）			161.0（123.0，244.0）	15.84（2.94，63.38）	1（0，2）
SLE缓解组	756.5（679.8，882.3）			171.0（127.3，224.5）	1.70（1.00，11.70）	1（0，1）
正常对照组
统计值	525.00			546.50	312.50	474.00
P值	0.656			0.856	0.002	0.246

组别	例数	MO#/（×109L^-1）	MO%/%	CM%/%	IM%/%	NCM%/%
正常对照组	46	0.29（0.24，0.34）	5.37（4.85，6.66）	95.81（94.06，97.05）	1.97（1.35，3.32）	1.87（1.11，2.67）
SLE组	67	0.37（0.30，0.52）	7.97（6.20，9.72）	92.31（88.38，94.45）	5.79（3.47，8.33）	1.93（1.02，2.71）
U值		758.50	663.50	662.00	532.50	1 540.00
P值		<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.995

组别	例数	MO#/（×109L^-1）	MO%/%	CM%/%	IM%/%	NCM%/%
正常对照组	46	0.29（0.24，0.34）	5.37（4.85，6.66）	95.81（94.06，97.05）	1.97（1.35，3.32）	1.87（1.11，2.67）
SLE组	67	0.37（0.30，0.52）	7.97（6.20，9.72）	92.31（88.38，94.45）	5.79（3.47，8.33）	1.93（1.02，2.71）
U值		758.50	663.50	662.00	532.50	1 540.00
P值		<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.995

组别	例数	MO#/（×109L^-1）	MO%/%	CM%/%	IM%/%	NCM%/%
SLE活动组	33	0.37（0.30，0.50）	7.97（5.98，10.93）	90.66（85.02，92.30）	7.89（5.82，10.27）	2.12（1.26，2.60）
SLE缓解组	34	0.39（0.29，0.54）	8.03（6.30，9.35）	94.26（92.30，97.05）	3.64（1.63，5.80）	1.42（0.93，2.83）
U值		544.50	558.00	188.50	171.00	473.00
P值		0.836	0.970	<0.001	<0.001	0.270