Comparison of leptin serum levels between systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and non-SLE patients at Mohammad Hoesin Hospital Palembang

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, in which immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues such as joint, skin, kidneys, brain, and other organs. The dysregulation occurs in the immune system and produces various inflammatory autoantibodies and cytokines in SLE patients. Leptin plays a role in the immune system's reaction to autoimmune diseases related to the inflammatory response, therefore it acts as a potential target in the development of therapy in the autoimmune disease. Serum leptin levels in SLE patients may be elevated, and are associated with the involvement of lupus nephritis, although it still unclear. A cross sectional study was conducted with a number of 70 subjects, each group consisted 35 SLE and 35 non-SLE patients who were treated as outpatient in the period of April - November 2016 at internal medicine Mohammad Hoesin hospital Palembang. We found that, leptin serum levels in the SLE group were higher than the non-SLE group but showed no significantly different.