Preliminary clinical measurement of the expression of B-cell activating factor in Chinese systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

It has recently been found that excessive serum B-cell activating factor (BAFF) production triggers severe autoimmune disorders in mice resembling systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Whether such dysregulation in circulating levels of BAFF results from overexpression of BAFF gene in clinical patients with SLE is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the expression of BAFF and SLE.