Predicting Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Using a Clinical Algorithm Model and Cell DNA
Assessing the severity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been difficult due to the clinical variety of the disease. A new study, looked at circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) concentration in relation to SLE disease severity, to better understand the disease’s clinical outcomes. CfDNA has begun to be widely used as a new liquid-biopsy biomarker and researchers wanted to determine the association between cfDNA concentration and SLE.
Researchers assessed 127 participants (88 with SLE and 39 with inactive SLE) and collected samples of their plasma to determine cfDNA concentration presence and levels, in addition to other clinical markers. They found 88 participants with active SLE had higher concentrations of cfDNA than those with inactive SLE and determined that the plasma cfDNA concentration is closely related to SLE disease severity and can potentially be used as a biomarker for SLE diagnosis.
More studies are needed to validate cfDNA as a liquid-biopsy biomarker for SLE. Learn more about lupus diagnosis.
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