Chonnam Med J.  2001 Jun;37(2):119-123.

Correlation of Serum Nitric Oxide Levels and Disease Activity of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

• Lee SS
• Kim YA

Abstract

To determine whether serum measures of nitric oxide production correlate with disease activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we assayed the levels of serum nitrate/nitrite from 70 patients with SLE and 10 normal controls. Lupus disease activity was determined by laboratory findings including anti-dsDNA antibody (anti-dsDNA) and the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) at the time of serum collection. Nitrate levels were measured by the Greiss method and determined by subtracting the endogenous nitrite concentration from the total nitrite concentration. The mean serum concentration of nitrate was 128.9+/-11.0 umol/L for patients with SLE and 142.2+/-6.7 umol/L in controls. The serum concentration of nitrate in SLE patients did not differ from controls. And the serum nitrate levels did not correlate with disease activity variables, including ESR, C3, C4, CH50, anti-dsDNA and SLEDAI. When using the mean+2SD as the cutoff point, there were no differences between the two groups regarding disease activity variables. Also, serum nitrate levels did not differ between active (SLEDAI score > or = 8) and inactive (SLEDAI < 8) SLE patients. Serum nitrate levels did not correlate with SLE disease activity in this study.

Keyword

Systemic lupus erythematosus; Nitric oxide; Nitrates; Disease activity

MeSH Terms

Humans
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic*
Nitrates
Nitric Oxide*
Nitrates
Nitric Oxide