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Seasonal distribution of systemic lupus erythematosus activity and its correlation with climate factors

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Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease with a variety of clinical manifestations. Although inter-individual variations exist with respect to susceptibility to develop SLE, no study has been carried out to determine the role of different climate conditions in predisposing the susceptible individuals to SLE. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of different seasons and climate factors on SLE activity. From 2000 to 2009, the seasonal distribution of 2,802 active SLE patients recruited from Anhui Provincial Hospital and the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University was analyzed retrospectively. The climate data were provided by the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The correlation between climate factors and SLE activity was also analyzed. The proportion of active SLE patients in winter, spring, summer, and autumn was 10.06, 10.31, 9.74, and 8.66‰, respectively. In autumn, the proportion was much lower than that in winter and spring (P < 0.05). The proportion among winter, spring, and summer had no statistical difference (P > 0.05). The number of active SLE patients had no correlation with air temperature (r = 0.483, P > 0.05), relative humidity (r = −0.294, P > 0.05), and sunshine percentage (r = 0.503, P > 0.05), but it had positive correlation with amount of precipitation (r = 0.601, P < 0.05), wind velocity (r = 0.713, P < 0.01), and sunshine duration (r = 0.769, P < 0.01) and negative correlation with barometric pressure (r = −0.664, P < 0.05). The disease activity of patients with SLE is affected by seasons and climate factors.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30571608, 30771848) and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20070366002). We are deeply indebted to the people who have participated in this study; we also thank Dr Jian-hua Xu, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, and Dr Xiang-pei Li, Anhui Provincial Hospital, for assistance in case identification. Their cooperation was invaluable to this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230032, People’s Republic of China

    Jie Yang, Hai-Feng Pan, Jin-Hui Tao, Yan-Feng Zou & Dong-Qing Ye

  2. Department of Information, The Second Hospital, Anhui Medical University, 678 Furong Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230601, People’s Republic of China

    Yu-Wei Lu

  3. Department of Rheumatology, Anhui Provincial Hospital, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230001, People’s Republic of China

    Jin-Hui Tao

  4. Department of Information, The First Hospital, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230032, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Bao

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  1. Jie Yang
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  7. Dong-Qing Ye
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Correspondence to Dong-Qing Ye.

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Yang, J., Lu, YW., Pan, HF. et al. Seasonal distribution of systemic lupus erythematosus activity and its correlation with climate factors. Rheumatol Int 32, 2393–2399 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-011-1971-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-011-1971-2

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