Basophils as a potential marker of lupus nephritis by flow cytometry

OBJECTIVE: To establish a convenient and simple flow cytometry immunophenotyping panel to explore immune cellular alterations and potential cellular biomarkers in systemic lupus erythematosus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, case–control study including 60 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and 20 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. A 14-color immunophenotyping panel was applied to detect proportions of circulating immune mononuclear cells, and comparisons between patients and healthy controls, and subgroups of patients, were performed. Correlations between cellular proportions and other parameters were investigated. RESULTS: After multivariate analysis, significantly decreased proportions of CD4(−)CD8(−) T cells, natural killer cells and innate lymphoid cells were observed in patients compared with healthy controls. The proportions of basophils were decreased significantly in patients with lupus nephritis (LN) compared with those in patients without LN. CONCLUSION: In the present study, we found that basophil proportions may be a biomarker of LN.