Investigation of the caspase-dependent mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in mononuclear cells of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Table 4 Comparison of intracellular molecules between patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and disease controls

	SLE	Disease controls
	n = 31	n = 15	p value
Intracellular protein levels
MDA5 (pg/mL)	701.53 (543.45,885.96)	296.74 (216.50,567.40)	<0.01*
Activated caspase 9	9.74 (0.81, 22.34)	2.20 (0.26, 3.58)	0.06
Activated caspase 10	0.77 (0.51, 2.09)	0.15 (0.04, 0.24)	<0.01*
pIRF7	0.10 (0.04, 0.30)	0.03 (0.01, 0.04)	<0.01*
Activated MAVS	0.82 (0.19, 2.59)	0.24 (0.11, 0.42)	0.02*

Data presented with median, IQR; IQR, inter-quartile range.
The levels of pIRF7, activated caspase 9, caspase 10, and MAVS from Western blot method were normalized with actin levels.
Abbreviation: pIRF7, phosphorylated interferon regulator factor 7; MAVS, mitochondrial anti-viral signaling protein.
*p < 0.05.

ISSN: 1479-5876