CD81 and CD19 as Marker of Activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is systematic auto-immune disease characterized by abnormal activation of B cell with production of autoantibodies. Due to its heterogeneous course, there is a need for new markers to help in diagnosing and monitoring disease activity. The aim of this study was to identify the immunopathological role of CD19 and CD81 expression in patients with SLE and their correlation with the disease activity. Peripheral blood (PB) was collected from 40 SLE patients (20 active and 20 inactive) and 20 controls. All were subjected to CBC, Anti-ds DNA, Redial immunodiffusion (RID) for C3 and C4 as activity markers, and detection of CD19 and CD81 surface expression using flow cytometry. CD19 and CD81 were significantly reduced and correlated with disease activity. It is concluded that CD 19 and CD 81 are potential markers for diagnosing and monitoring SLE patients.