Serum MASP2 level and MASP2 gene polymorphisms in Egyptian systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Background:Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that predominately affects women. It is characterized by a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, these manifestations range from fatigue, skin rash, and arthralgia to central nervous system (CNS) involvement, arthritis, serositis, nephritis, pneumonitis, cardiac disease, and hematological problems The aims of the study are:To evaluate the association between MASP2 serum level and SLE disease activity in Egyptian systemic lupus erythematosus patients.To evaluate the association between MASP2 gene polymorphisms (rs17409276, 2273346 and rs1782455) and SLE to determine whether these polymorphisms could be a genetic marker for SLE susceptibility in Egyptian population. Subjects and Methods: Study population :This prospective cohort study was carried out at Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University. It was conducted on 81 subjects during the period from January 2024 to March 2024.The hospital ethics committee approved this study and a written consent was obtained from patients and controls. (Approval number: 801:08/2021, Date of approval: 16 August 2021). Results:Table I shows that there was no significant difference (p=0.4) between SLE patients and controls regarding their mean age. 97.6% of patients and 48.7% of controls were females, and this difference was statistically significant (p=0001*). As regards residence, there was a statistically significant difference; 71.4% of patients and 97.4% of controls were from urban residences. Conclusions:MASP2 can be considered as a good marker for assessment of SLE activity and severity.MASP2 can be used as an inflammatory marker for SLE. MASP2 gene polymorphism is associated with SLE susceptibility among Egyptian population.