Table 1 Characteristics of individual studies included in the meta-analysis
Study | Study design | Sample size (SLE/control) | Gender of SLE(F/M) | Mean age of SLE(y) | Criteria of SLE diagnosis | Type of tissue/cell used in studies | Characteristics of controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belmont 1997 [32] | Case-control | 36(25/11) | NG | NG | ACR | Skin: endothelial cell, keratinocyte | Skin biopsy samples obtained from young, healthy, female volunteers |
Kuhn 1998 [22] | Case-control | 26(21/5) | NG | NG | ARA | Skin: keratinocyte | Non-lesional skin from healthy people |
Gong 2002 [33] | Case-control | 64(34/30) | 30/4 | 29.8 | ARA | Peripheral blood: PBMC | Healthy volunteers, mean age was 25.6, gender ratio was 26/4 |
Xu 2003 [34] | Case-control | 58(38/20) | 38/0 | 32.2 | ACR | Peripheral blood | Healthy volunteers, mean age was 28.2, gender ratio was 20/0 |
Zheng 2006 [35] | Case-control | 59(49/10) | 43/6 | 30.85 | ARA | Kidney: tubular cell | Normal kidney biopsies without SLE, but accompanied by renal cell carcinoma |
Bollain 2009 [36] | Case-control | 34(17/17) | 14/3 | 25.9 | ACR | kidney | Normal kidney biopsies without renal pathology |