The Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway is one of a handful of pleiotropic cascades used to transduce a multitude of signals for development and homeostasis in humans. It is the principal signaling mechanism for a wide array of cytokines and growth factors. Dysregulated cytokine action on immune cells plays an important role in the initiation and progress of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this study, we tried to assess the role of STAT5 in systemic lupus erythematosus and correlate its phosphorylation level with the disease activity. The activation of the STAT5 was assessed by measuring the level of expression of phosphorylated STAT5 (pSTAT5) using flow cytometry on the peripheral blood T and B cells in 58 SLE patients (40 adult and 18 juvenile onset) and on 23 healthy age- and sex-matched controls for both groups. Serum prolactin level was also assessed in the patients and control by ELISA. The study revealed that the level of pSTAT5 was higher in adult SLE patients than in healthy control (p = 0.001) and in juvenile-onset SLE patients versus age-matched control (p = 0.031). A positive correlation existed between the pSTAT5 levels and Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM) score and also with multiple clinical manifestations indicating a potential role of STAT5 signaling in pathogenesis SLE. The pSTAT5 signaling is implicated in the disease activity of SLE and may be a useful target of therapy by correcting the dysregulation of cytokines involved in the disease pathogenesis.

was 2,913,509 JPY over the study period and ones by disease severity are shown in Figure 1. Conclusions This study described the economic burden and clinical characteristics of Japanese SLE patients based on a claims database, which indicated a high level of disease burden.

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BackgroundSystemic lupus erythrematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with a myriad of manifestations, that could vary among different ethnic and racial groups.ObjectivesTo study the prevalence of various manifestations of SLE in an Egyptian population.MethodsInformation in this study was derived from the medical records of SLE patients who followed up in a private clinic in Cairo from January 1980 to June 2016.ResultsThis descriptive retrospective case series included 1109 juvenile (19.4%) and adult (80.6%) patients, of which 114 (10.3%) were males and 995 were females (89.7%). Age of onset showed a mean of 26±11.19 years, and the mean of disease duration was 48.78±58.46 months (median: 26 years). The most common manifestations were synovitis (76.7%), malar rash (48.5%), leukopenia (45.7%), and photosensitivity (45.6%). At least one of the antiphospholipid antibodies was present in 41.8% of the patients tested for APL (636 patients). However thromboembolic manifestations and/or recurrent fetal loss occured in 11.5% of the patients. Neuropsychiatric manifestations were evident only in 6.4% of the patients, with seizures being the most common neuropsychiatric manifestation, present in 4% of the patients. 33.1% of the patients had nephritis, which followed the onset of the disease by a mean duration of 20±21.3 months (median=12 months). There were gender differences in the disease characteristics. Cutaneous vasculitis, nephritis, and hypocomplementemia were statistically higher in males (p=0.012, p=0.01, and p=0.041 respectively). Whereas, synovitis, and alopecia were statistically higher in females (p=0.012 and p=0.006 respectively). Patients with juvenile onset had a statisticaly higher frequency of nephritis (0=0.01), seizures (p=0.012) haemolytic anemia (p=0.001), and hypocomplementinemia (p=0.02).ConclusionsSynovitis and malar rash were the most common manifestations in our study. Secondary antiphospholipid was present in 11.5% of the patients. Male patients and juvenile patients showed a tendency towards a more severe disease.Disclosure of InterestNone declared