Association of anti dsDNA antibodies titer with non-renal manifestations of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI)

Background: Early diagnosis and effective treatment in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has very crucial role. Anti dsDNA is very important diagnostic tool and activity marker in SLE. This study aimed to determine the association of anti dsDNA antibodies titer with non-renal manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus and systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI). Patients and methods: It was a cross-sectional study and was carried out at Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Tertiary Care Hospital, Lahore from Feb 2021 to May 2021. The study involved 69 male and female patients satisfying the systemic lupus international collaborating clinics (SLICC) classification criteria. Questions regarding different symptoms were asked and disease activity parameters were noted excluding renal parameters. Anti-dsDNA titers were measured from standard laboratory using immunofluorescence technique and were correlated with SLEDAI score. A written informed consent was obtained from every patient. Results: The mean age of the patients was 30.7±10.2 years while the mean duration of disease 1.94±2.65 years. We observed a female predominance among these patients with male to female ratio of 1:7.6. There were fifty-four (78.3%) patients with active disease. The mean anti-dsDNA levels were significantly higher in patients with active disease (315.73±481.68 vs. 78.46±113.64 IU/mL; p-value=0.003). There was a significantly strong positive correlation between anti-dsDNA levels and SLEDAI score (r=0.358; p-value=0.006). When compared, significant difference was observed in mean anti-dsDNA titers in patients with chronic cutaneous manifestations (p-value=0.040), lymphopenia (p-value= 0.012), pleurisy/pericarditis (p-value= 0.024) and leukopenia <3000/mm3 (p-value= 0.001). Conclusion: Anti-dsDNA antibodies titers are remarkably increased in patients with non-renal manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus particularly with chronic cutaneous manifestations and leukopenia and positively correlate with disease activity status and SLEDAI score.