Alterations of serum trace elements and other biochemical parameters are correlated with the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus: A preliminary study on Bangladeshi population

• Published in: Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology Vol. 68; p. 126861
• Main Authors: Jahan, Israt, Das, Dalim Chandra, Hussain, Md. Saddam, Hossain, Md. Monir, Chowdhury, Muhammed Alamgir Zaman, Fardous, Zeenath, Rahman, Md. Mujibur, Kabir, A.K.M. Humayun, Deb, Sudip Ranjan, Siddique, Md. Abu Bakar, Das, Abhijit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Elsevier GmbH 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Ascorbic Acid; Bangladesh; C-Reactive Protein; Case-Control Studies; Humans; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; Malondialdehyde; MDA; Systemic lupus erythematosus; Trace Elements; Vitamin C; Vitamins; Bangladesh; Trace elements; Systemic lupus erythematosus; C-reactive protein; MDA; Vitamin C
• ISSN: 0946-672X; 1878-3252; 1878-3252
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2021.126861

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder in which the body's defense system wrongly attacks healthy body tissues. The objective of this current setup was to quantify and compare the serum concentration of ascorbic acid (Vit-C), malondialdehyde (MDA), c-reactive protein (CRP) and trace elements (Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) in SLE and normal subjects. The proposed case-control study was performed with 25 SLE patients and 25 healthy subjects as case and control, respectively. The serum level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and vitamin C was evaluated by UV spectrophotometric method. For the determination of CRP, the latex agglutination method was used, whereas serum trace elements were estimated by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). This analysis demonstrated that patients with SLE possessed a significant (p < 0.001) higher level of MDA and lower level of vitamin C compared to control subjects. Pearson’s correlation analysis found negative correlation between the serum level of MDA and vitamin C (r= -0.023, p = 0.887) for patients while control group also possessed similar result (r= -0.157, p = 0.453). The current findings have also revealed that serum level of Zn and Cu in SLE patients was significantly (p < 0.05) lowered to that of the control group, while serum level of Mn also showed a similar scenario. During Pearson’s correlation analysis a significantly (p < 0.05) negative correlation was found between Zn and Mn (r= -0.410, p = 0.042) in patients’ group. Although our study was limited to a small sample size and confined to a particular area of the country, the study results support a significant role of antioxidants, CRP, and trace elements in the generation of SLE and, therefore, recommends a large spectrum study of the associations between SLE and these biochemical parameters.