Introduction Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease, the pathogenesis of which remains elusive. The deficiency or excess of thyroid hormone is defined as thyroid dysfunction, including (subclinical) hypothyroidism and (subclinical) hyperthyroidism. Autoimmune factors are likely to be relevant to the development of SLE and thyroid dysfunction. Recently, many studies have indicated that the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction is higher in SLE patients than in the general population. The objective of our study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to find out the relationship between SLE and thyroid dysfunction. Methods Literature databases were searched, including PubMed, Embase, Web of science, Cochrane, CNKI, CHINESE WANFANG, China Science and Technology Database (VIP). Studies comparing presence of thyroid dysfunction in SLE patients to healthy controls were extracted. All the statistical analyses were performed with STATA 12.0 software. Results Ten studies with 10,500 SLE patients and 44,170 healthy controls were included in this study. The meta-analysis results showed that the prevalence of (subclinical) hypothyroidism in SLE patients was higher than in the healthy controls (hypothyroidism: OR = 2.93, 95% CI = 1.81–4.75; subclinical hypothyroidism: OR = 5.67, 95% CI = 3.50–9.18). No statistical difference of (subclinical) hyperthyroidism was found between SLE patients and controls. Conclusion Our meta-analysis suggests that SLE is significantly associated with increased risk of (subclinical) hypothyroidism, but it has little influence on (subclinical) hyperthyroidism.

Background A variety of methods for ex-utero culture systems have been explored, but there remain limitations in terms of in vitro culture platforms used prior to the implantation of mouse embryos, and the ability of mouse blastocysts to develop normally in vitro has not been established. Whether vascular niche support mouse embryo development from embryonic day (E) 3.5 to E7.5 in vitro is unknown.Methods We established a three-dimensional (3D) “sandwich” vascular-niche culture system with in vitro culture medium (IVCM) with human placenta perivascular stem cells (hPPSCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (hUVECs), as supportive cells, which were seeded into the bottom layer of Matrigel to test mouse embryos from E3.5 to E7.5 in vitro. Mouse embryos from E3.5 to E7.5 development rates and greatest diameters at each stage were quantitatively determinated using statistics of SPSS software. Pluripotent markers and embryo transplantation in vivo were used to monitor mouse embryo quality and function.Results Embryos in the IVCM + Cells (hPPSCs + hUVECs) showed higher development rates and greatest diameters at each stage than those in the IVCM group. Embryos in the IVCM + Cells group cultured to E5.5 resembled natural egg cylinders in morphology and expressed specific embryonic cell markers, including Oct4 and Nanog, which were features similar to embryos developed in vivo. After transplantation, the embryos could be re-implanted in the internal uterus and continue to develop to a certain stage.Conclusions Therefore, the 3D in vitro culture system enabled the development of embryos from E3.5 to E7.5, and the vascularization microenvironment constructed by Matrigel, hPPSCs, and hUVECs significantly promoted the development of implanted embryos. This system allowed us to further study the physical and molecular mechanisms of embryo implantation in vitro.