Abstract Background: Autoimmune disease known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) occurs when the body’s immune system assaults its own tissues. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to find novel interferon alpha (IFN- α ) and MALAT1-based genetic and immunological prognostic indicators of SLE. Materials and Methods: Three milliliters of blood were drawn from 60 Iraqi patients with SLE, with a mean age of 31.87 ± 1.08 years, who were matched in age with 60 ostensibly healthy volunteers as a control group. About 300 μL of the blood were placed in TriZol tubes for RNA extraction and subsequently used to estimate MALAT1 gene expression by RT-qPCR, and 2.700 mL of the blood were placed in gel tubes to determine IFN- α serum. Results: Patients’ Metastasis-Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript1 (MALAT1) gene expression increased significantly ( P ≤ 0.01) as compared to controls (1.14-fold), increasing by 3.47-fold. ad ditionally, the results showed that patients’ IFN- α serum levels were significantly higher ( P ≤ 0.01) than controls’ were 61.04 ± 0.93 pg/mL versus 125.96 ± 4.45 pg/mL. The results also revealed a substantial positive correlation between MALAT1 lncRNA expression and IFN- α serum level, with significant differences. Conclusion: The present study found a direct positive association between MALAT1 gene expression and IFN- α serum level, as well as high levels of MALAT1 gene expression and IFN- α serum level in SLE patients.
Jaber et al. (Thu,) studied this question.