lncRNAs as New Biomarkers in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Prospective Study

Aim: To investigate serum levels of two Immune-related functional lncRNAs, growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5) and metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), in Egyptian patients with SLE and to evaluate their relationship with disease activity.

Method: The present study was a case-control study that was carried out on 39 patients with SLE and 46 age and sex-matched healthy controls. The expression levels of GAS5 and MALAT1 were measured using by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results: There were statistically significant differences between cases and controls in GAS5 (p <0.001) and MALAT1 expression (p <0.01). The mean GAS5 was significantly higher in the control; while the mean MALATI expression was significantly higher in SLE patients. The ROC curve revealed that GAS5 was a good discriminant with AUC 0.849 with sensitivity 93.5% and specificity 74.3%. Moreover, MALAT1 was a good discriminant to differentiate cases from controls with AUC 0.3 with 95% CI (0.162 - 0.438), the most suitable cut-off point was ≥ 2.1 with Sensitivity 93.5% and Specificity 72.5%.

Conclusion: GAS5 and MALAT1 may serve as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of the SLE, both lnRNAs exhibited a good diagnostic accuracy to discriminate between SLE patients and healthy controls.