Elevated serum level of growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) in systemic lupus erythematosus patients is associated with nephritis and cutaneous vasculitis

• Published in: Rheumatology international Vol. 34; no. 5; pp. 625 - 629
• Main Authors: Wu, Chien-Sheng, Hu, Chung-Yi, Tsai, Hwei-Fang, Chyuan, I-Tsu, Chan, Cheng-Ju, Chang, Sheng-Kai, Hsu, Ping-Ning
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Biomarkers - blood; Case-Control Studies; Disease Progression; Female; Humans; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - blood; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - blood; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - diagnosis; Lupus Nephritis - blood; Lupus Nephritis - diagnosis; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Prognosis; Rheumatology; Up-Regulation; Vasculitis - blood; Vasculitis - diagnosis; Nephritis; Systemic lupus erythematosus; Vasculitis; Growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6)
• ISSN: 0172-8172; 1437-160X; 1437-160X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00296-013-2882-1

Growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) is a serum protein involved in granulocyte, platelet and endothelium interaction, and is implicated in both anti-inflammatory response as well as platelet/leukocytes activation. We investigated serum Gas6 level in different clinical manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Data were collected in 83 patients with SLE and 40 non-lupus controls. The Gas6 levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results demonstrated that the Gas6 level was higher in SLE patients as compared to the non-lupus control subjects (SLE vs. non-lupus control, median [inter-quartile range (IQR)] 22.67 [19.40–28.60] vs. 18.97 [16.05–20.62] ng/mL, p  < 0.01). Furthermore, Gas6 level was higher in patients with nephritis (nephritis vs. non-nephritis, median [IQR] 26.21 [21.17–31.61] vs. 22.22 [18.98–26.98] ng/mL, p  = 0.03) and in patients with cutaneous vasculitis (vasculitis vs. non-vasculitis, median [IQR] 27.89 [23.24–34.26] vs. 22.30 [19.32–27.16] ng/mL, p  = 0.03). Our results indicate that the serum Gas6 level is increased in SLE patients with lupus nephritis or cutaneous vasculitis, implicating a potential to serve as a SLE disease activity marker.