3.1 The characteristics and laboratory results in different tests of study populations
The prevalence of IgG ANAs and HA IgG ANAs, the levels of serum CXCL13, serum anti-dsDNA IgG, the complement molecules C3 and C4, and ESR were different among the SLE anti-dsDNA-positive group, the SLE anti-dsDNA-negative group, the non-SLE group and the healthy controls group (p<0.001). Furthermore, we divided the non-SLE groups into the RA group and the other autoimmune diseases (OAD) group. Significant increases in the levels of CXCL13 were observed in the SLE anti-dsDNA-positive group [487.70 (266.94-928.74) pg/ml] among the other four groups (p<0.05). The serum CXCL13 level was significantly higher in the SLE anti-dsDNA-negative group [213.95 (43.49-475.37) pg/ml], RA group [98.49 (39.07-249.05) pg/ml] and other autoimmune diseases group [246.73 (117.04-451.56) pg/ml] than in the healthy controls group [0.045 (0.01-15.17)] (p<0.001). However, there were no differences in the serum CXCL13 levels among the SLE anti-dsDNA-negative group, RA group and OAD group. Moreover, the serum levels of C3 and C4 were significantly lower in the SLE anti-dsDNA-positive group than in the other four groups (p<0.05). However, significant increases in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were observed in the RA group compared to that in the other groups, except the SLE anti-dsDNA-positive group (p<0.05).(Table1.)