Serum Metabolomics Analysis of Skin-Involved Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Association of Anti-SSA Antibodies with Photosensitivity

Dingqi Lu; Xinchao Zhu; Tao Hong; Xinyi Yao; Zhiming Xie; Liying Chen; Yihan Wang; Kaiyuan Zhang; Yating Ren; Yi Cao; Xinchang Wang

doi:10.2147/JIR.S426337

Serum Metabolomics Analysis of Skin-Involved Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Association of Anti-SSA Antibodies with Photosensitivity

J Inflamm Res. 2023 Aug 30:16:3811-3822. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S426337. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Dingqi Lu^#¹, Xinchao Zhu^#², Tao Hong², Xinyi Yao², Zhiming Xie³, Liying Chen², Yihan Wang², Kaiyuan Zhang², Yating Ren², Yi Cao⁴, Xinchang Wang³

Affiliations

¹ First Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310053, People's Republic of China.
² Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310053, People's Republic of China.
³ The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310053, People's Republic of China.
⁴ The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310053, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: Systemic lupus erythematosus is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease in which skin involvement is a common manifestation. It is currently thought that the photosensitivity of SLE skin involvement is associated with anti-SSA antibodies. This study aimed to expand the current state of knowledge surrounding the molecular pathophysiology of SLE skin photosensitivity through Serum metabolomics analysis.

Patients and methods: The serum metabolites of 23 cases of skin-involved SLE (SI) group, 14 cases of no SI (NSI) group, and 30 cases of healthy controls (HC) were analyzed by using UPLC-MS/MS technology, and subgroup analysis was performed according to the expression of anti-SSA antibodies in SI. MetaboAnalyst 5.0 was used for enrichment analysis and ROC curve construction, identifying serum metabolic markers of skin-involved SLE associated with anti-SSA antibodies.

Results: We identified several metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with SLE photosensitivity. Two metabolites, SM (d18:1/24:0) and gamma-CEHC can distinguish between anti-SSA antibody-positive and negative SI, with AUC of 0.829 and 0.806. These two photosensitization-related substances may be potential markers of skin involvement in SLE associated with anti-SSA antibody.

Conclusion: This study provides new insights into the pathogenesis of SI patients, and provides a new molecular biological basis for the association between anti-SSA antibodies and skin photoallergic manifestations of SLE.

Keywords: anti-SSA antibodies; biomarkers; metabolomics; photosensitivity; systemic lupus erythematosus.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.82074341), Zhejiang Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Program (No.2020ZX008) and General Research Project of Education Department of Zhejiang Province (No.Y202248715).