We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
PURITAN MEDICAL

Download Mobile App




Sphingolipids Are Prognostic Biomarkers for African American SLE Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 23 Aug 2021
A recent study found that lactosylceramide levels may have a “predictive” value and sphingolipidomics have an added benefit to currently available tools for the early diagnosis and prognosis of African American systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

SLE is an autoimmune disease triggered by genetic and environmental factors in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. More...
Symptoms vary and may be mild to severe. Common symptoms include painful and swollen joints, fever, chest pain, hair loss, mouth ulcers, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, and a red rash which is most commonly on the face. Often there are periods of illness, called flares, and periods of remission during which there are few symptoms.

SLE affects females more than males, with African Americans developing more severe manifestation of the disease. SLE patients are at increased risk for CVD, and SLE women 35-44 years old have 50-fold the incidence rate of CVD. Because SLE patients do not follow the typical age and gender pattern for CVD, but instead an accelerated disease course, the traditional biomarkers of elevated low density lipoproteins (LDL) and total cholesterol levels do not accurately assess their CVD risk.

Investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, SC, USA; www.musc.edu) reported previously that African American SLE patients had higher ceramide, hexosylceramide, sphingosine, and dihydrosphingosine 1-phosphate levels compared to their healthy controls, and those with atherosclerosis had higher sphingomyelin and sphingoid bases levels than those without this disease. In the current study, the investigators sought to identify sphingolipid species that correlated with and indicated the potential to predict atherosclerosis severity in African American SLE patients.

For the study, the investigators used targeted mass spectroscopy to analyze plasma samples from a group of 51 predominantly female African American SLE patients with well-defined carotid atherosclerotic plaque burden for sphingolipidomic makeup.

Results revealed that plasma levels of the lactosylceramide (Lac-Cer) class of sphingolipids were positively correlated with the change in atherosclerotic plaque area over one year. Thus, higher levels of Lac-Cer were associated with increased disease activity in African American patients with SLE. In addition, the investigators found no correlation between LDL concentrations and the concentrations of the measured Lac-Cer species, indicating that the traditional biomarker for heart disease was ineffective in predicting disease severity in the African American lupus population.

“Treatments for SLE and heart disease are often given as a one-size-fits-all, and they can have major side effects for the patient,” said first author Dr. Samar M. Hammad, associate professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. “The most exciting finding of this study is that we may be able to find another way to better diagnose and eventually treat the African American lupus patients who are at increased risk of developing heart disease.”

“This finding showed us that the Lac-Cer levels in the circulation could have predictive value for a patient,” said Dr. Hammad. “We could use this as a readout for how a patient is progressing while on medication and get a good indication of his or her heart disease. Using sphingolipids as a tool to complement other diagnostic modalities will be important because SLE is often hard to diagnose. I think sphingolipids can play a major role in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of lupus.”

The study was published in the July 21, 2021, online edition of the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

Related Links:
Medical University of South Carolina


Gold Member
Veterinary Hematology Analyzer
Exigo H400
Serological Pipet Controller
PIPETBOY GENIUS
New
Automated Biochemical Analyzer
iBC 900
New
Silver Member
Autoimmune Hepatitis Test
LKM-1-Ab ELISA
Read the full article by registering today, it's FREE! It's Free!
Register now for FREE to LabMedica.com and get access to news and events that shape the world of Clinical Laboratory Medicine.
  • Free digital version edition of LabMedica International sent by email on regular basis
  • Free print version of LabMedica International magazine (available only outside USA and Canada).
  • Free and unlimited access to back issues of LabMedica International in digital format
  • Free LabMedica International Newsletter sent every week containing the latest news
  • Free breaking news sent via email
  • Free access to Events Calendar
  • Free access to LinkXpress new product services
  • REGISTRATION IS FREE AND EASY!
Click here to Register








DIASOURCE (A Biovendor Company)

Channels

Hematology

view channel
Image: CitoCBC is the world first cartridge-based CBC to be granted CLIA Waived status by FDA (Photo courtesy of CytoChip)

Disposable Cartridge-Based Test Delivers Rapid and Accurate CBC Results

Complete Blood Count (CBC) is one of the most commonly ordered lab tests, crucial for diagnosing diseases, monitoring therapies, and conducting routine health screenings. However, more than 90% of physician... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: A simple blood test could replace surgical biopsies for early detecion of heart transplant rejection (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Blood Test Detects Organ Rejection in Heart Transplant Patients

Following a heart transplant, patients are required to undergo surgical biopsies so that physicians can assess the possibility of organ rejection. Rejection happens when the recipient’s immune system identifies... Read more

Pathology

view channel
These images illustrate how precision oncology Organ Chips recapitulate individual patients’ responses to chemotherapy (Photo courtesy of Wyss Institute at Harvard University)

Cancer Chip Accurately Predicts Patient-Specific Chemotherapy Response

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), one of the two primary types of esophageal cancer, ranks as the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and currently lacks effective targeted therapies.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.