ArticleArthritis research & therapy2023
Deconvolution of whole blood transcriptomics identifies changes in immune cell composition in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) treated with mycophenolate mofetil.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 10 papers.
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10 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- The why, what, who and when of B cell depletion in systemic lupus erythematosus: biological rationale, patient stratification and evolving therapeutic modalities.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Transcriptomic Traces of Noise Exposure in Hearing Loss and Systematic Identification of Biomarker Candidates at the Molecular Scale.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Early Transcriptional Changes in Neutrophil-Mediated Processes Following Recanalization After Ischemic Stroke.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Prospective association between leukocyte telomere length and mortality: findings from the Black Women's Experiences Living with Lupus (BeWELL) Study.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2026Article
- Dynamic Alterations in the Blood Transcriptome Characterize Drug Use Behavior and Co-Morbidities in Cocaine Use Disorder: A Preliminary Study.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Article
- Belimumab combined with mycophenolate mofetil for treating severe lupus nephritis: effects on renal recovery, immune regulation, and long-term prognosis.American journal of translational research · 2025Article
- Increased Inflammatory Responses in Patients With Active Disseminated Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Infection and High Anti-Interferon-Gamma Autoantibodies.Immune network · 2024Article
- Blood transcriptomics analysis offers insights into variant-specific immune response to SARS-CoV-2.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Blood transcriptomics analysis offers insights into variant-specific immune response to SARS-CoV-2.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Correction: Deconvolution of whole blood transcriptomics identifies changes in immune cell composition in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) treated with mycophenolate mofetil.Arthritis research & therapy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
10 authors at 9 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a clinically and biologically heterogeneous autoimmune disease. We explored whether the deconvolution of whole blood transcriptomic data could identify differences in predicted immune cell frequency between active SLE patients, and whether these differences are associated with clinical features and/or medication use.
methodsPatients with active SLE (BILAG-2004 Index) enrolled in the BILAG-Biologics Registry (BILAG-BR), prior to change in therapy, were studied as part of the MASTERPLANS Stratified Medicine consortium. Whole blood RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was conducted at enrolment into the registry. Data were deconvoluted using CIBERSORTx. Predicted immune cell frequencies were compared between active and inactive disease in the nine BILAG-2004 domains and according to immunosuppressant use (current and past).
resultsPredicted cell frequency varied between 109 patients. Patients currently, or previously, exposed to mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) had fewer inactivated macrophages (0.435% vs 1.391%, p = 0.001), naïve CD4 T cells (0.961% vs 2.251%, p = 0.002), and regulatory T cells (1.858% vs 3.574%, p = 0.007), as well as a higher proportion of memory activated CD4 T cells (1.826% vs 1.113%, p = 0.015), compared to patients never exposed to MMF. These differences remained statistically significant after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, disease duration, renal disease, and corticosteroid use. There were 2607 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in patients exposed to MMF with over-representation of pathways relating to eosinophil function and erythrocyte development and function. Within CD4 + T cells, there were fewer predicted DEGs related to MMF exposure. No significant differences were observed for the other conventional immunosuppressants nor between patients according disease activity in any of the nine organ domains.
conclusionMMF has a significant and persisting effect on the whole blood transcriptomic signature in patients with SLE. This highlights the need to adequately adjust for background medication use in future studies using whole blood transcriptomics.
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