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Insights into systemic lupus erythematosus: a retrospective observational study of clinical features, autoantibodies, and gender-related differences

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Abstract

This study aims to analyze the clinical and immunologic features of SLE in Jordan, while also investigating the impact of age and gender on disease presentation. The study included 275 patients diagnosed with SLE. Data were collected through meticulous patient interviews and thorough examination of patient hospital records. The cohort exhibited a mean age of 36.8 ± 12.9 years, with an average disease duration of 7.0 ± 7.8 years. The mean age at diagnosis was 29.9 ± 12.1 years, and the female to male ratio was 7.8:1. The most frequently observed symptoms were arthralgia (90.2%), fatigue (80.7%), hematologic manifestations (62%), photosensitivity (60.7%), Raynaud's phenomenon (53.5%), and malar rash (50.9%). The frequencies of various autoantibodies were as follows: ANA (96.7%), anti-dsDNA (39.6%), anti-SSA/Ro (32.8%), anti-Sm (21.8%), anti-U1-RNP (20.6%), and anti-SSB/La (15.5%). Male patients tended to receive a diagnosis at a younger age and exhibited a higher likelihood of experiencing severe manifestations compared to females. Additionally, juvenile onset patients demonstrated an increased likelihood of fever, photosensitivity, myositis, and anti-dsDNA autoantibodies, while adult onset patients were more predisposed to having anti-Ro, anti-La, and RF autoantibodies. This study reveals that the most prevalent manifestations of SLE in the Jordanian cohort encompassed arthralgia, fatigue, and hematologic manifestations. The prevalence of alopecia and Raynaud's phenomenon exceeded that observed in other published cohorts, while arthritis and discoid rash were less frequently encountered. The study highlights that males are more susceptible to developing severe manifestations of SLE compared to females.

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The data available with the author upon request.

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Funding

No specific funding was received from public, commercial or not-for-profit bodies to carry out the work described in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

    Marwan H. Adwan, Ula Qasem, Saed. Y. Atawnah, Muath Itmeizeh, Ayman AbuHelal & Fatima Alnaimat

  2. Department of Rheumatology, AlBashir Hospital, Amman, Jordan

    Rifaat Hanbali, Najla Ali Alsoofi & Mohammed Abu Jbara

Authors
  1. Marwan H. Adwan
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  2. Ula Qasem
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  3. Saed. Y. Atawnah
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  4. Muath Itmeizeh
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  5. Rifaat Hanbali
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  6. Najla Ali Alsoofi
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  7. Mohammed Abu Jbara
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  8. Ayman AbuHelal
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  9. Fatima Alnaimat
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Contributions

All co-authors collectively bear full responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of every aspect of the work. MHA: Conceived and oversaw the study, formulated the initial manuscript, and critically reviewed and completed the final version. S YA, MI, RH, UQ, NA, MAJ and AAH: Contributed to data collection and drafting of the initial manuscript. FA: Manuscript writing and editing and evaluating research integrity.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fatima Alnaimat.

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Conflict of interest

Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Jordan University Hospital Institutional Review Board (protocol number 10/2024/6174), and all the procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki principles for this type of study.

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This work has not been presented at any congress either in abstract or full form.

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Informed consent was obtained from patients who participated in this study.

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Adwan, M.H., Qasem, U., Atawnah, S.Y. et al. Insights into systemic lupus erythematosus: a retrospective observational study of clinical features, autoantibodies, and gender-related differences. Rheumatol Int (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-024-05592-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-024-05592-7

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