ELEVATED LEVELS OF SOLUBLE CD14 IN SERUM OF PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS

A soluble form of CD14 (sCD14) was assessed with an ELISA assay in the serum of the following three clinical groups: 35 patients with an ina ctive phase of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 17 patients with SL E relapses, and 65 normal healthy volunteers. Increased levels of sCD1 4 were observed in all patients suffering from SLE compared with norma l controls. In addition, patients with active SLE revealed higher seru m concentrations of sCD14 (median 6.9 mg/l) than patients under remiss ion (4.1 mg/l; P < 0.0001). Serum values of sCD14 correlated neither w ith the number of peripheral blood monocytes bearing the CD 14 membran e antigen, nor with serum concentrations of IL-1beta. Serum sCD14 was compared with other clinical parameters used to monitor the clinical c ourse of patients with SLE, among them complement C3, anti-dsDNA antib odies and soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R). A good correlation emerged b etween sCD14 and C3 as well as sIL-2R concentrations, but sCD14 and an ti-dsDNA titres disclosed no significant correlation in both groups of patients with SLE. Serial studies in patients with severe SLE showed that serum sCD14 closely parallels the clinical course as defined by a n activity score. Our data suggest that serum sCD14 represents a promi sing parameter to monitor disease activity in patients with SLE.