Correlation of systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity (SLEDAI) with serum level of albumin in lupus patients

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common type of rheumatologic disease. Currently there is no universally accepted "gold standard" to measure disease activity. An inexpensive and clinically reliable serological marker for disease activity would therefore be useful to guide treatment and gauge responses to treatment; however, such a marker remains elusive. Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation of systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) with serum level of albumin in lupus patients. Patients and Methods: The SLEDAI criteria were obtained by reviewing clinical records and Serum albumin, dsDNA, C3 and C4 were measured in lupus patients, and also demographic data including the patients’ age, and duration of disease were also collected. Results: In this study, 60 patients (54 females and 6 males) age 31.10 ±6.63 years were enrolled. A significant negative correlation was observed between serum albumin and SLEDAI (P=0.001, r=-0.42), however, no significant correlation was found between serum albumin with anti-dsDNA (P=0.73, r=0.04), C3 (P=0.33, r=0.14) and C4 (P=0.74, r=-0.05). There was also a direct significant relationship between SLEDAI with anti-dsDNA (P=0.02, r= 0.31) and inverse correlations with C3 (P=0.007, r=-0.40) and C4 level (P=0.02, r=-0.31). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that serum albumin is the most important factor in predicting SLEDAI among other factors including anti-dsDNA, C3 and C4 (β=0.64, P=0.001). SLEDAI was higher in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with hypoalbuminemia compared to SLE patients without hypoalbuminemia (P=0.003). Conclusion: We found a significant negative relationship between serum albumin and SLEDAI, and also the fact that SLEDAI was significantly higher in SLE patients with hypoalbuminemia than in those without hypoalbuminemia.