TY  - EJOU
AU  - Dorgham, Karim 
AU  - Jardin, Omaira Da Mata 
AU  - Mellot, Clara 
AU  - Mouries-Martin, Suzanne 
AU  - Calixte, Maude 
AU  - Nguyen, Ngoc Khanh 
AU  - Lhote, Raphael 
AU  - Haroche, Julien 
AU  - Cohen-Aubart, Fleur 
AU  - Pha, Micheline 
AU  - Hié, Miguel 
AU  - Papo, Matthias 
AU  - Chasset, François 
AU  - Ghillani-Dalbin, Pascale 
AU  - Yssel, Hans 
AU  - Amoura, Zahir 
AU  - Gorochov, Guy 
AU  - Mathian, Alexis 

TI  - Serum interferon-beta level determined by an ultrasensitive  electrochemiluminescence immunoassay is increased in clinically active and  inactive systemic lupus erythematosus
T2  - European Cytokine Network

PY  - 2025
VL  - 36
IS  - 2
SN  - 1952-4005

AB  - Background: Type I interferons, which play an important role in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune 
diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), are expressed at very low levels under physiological conditions. 
In this study, we focused on IFN-beta (IFN-β) for its potential use as a biomarker of SLE activity and compared 
three different technologies for its quantification in the serum of healthy donors and patients with SLE. Methods: A 
total of 93 serum samples from healthy donors and 463 serum samples from lupus patients were tested using either 
ELISA, digital ELISA based on Single Molecule Array (Simoa®) technology, or a novel ultrasensitive immunoassay 
(S-Plex®) based on electrochemiluminescence. Results: Circulating IFN-β levels were detected in 1.3%, 6.7%, and 
100% of healthy donors by Simoa, ELISA, and S-Plex technology, respectively. In patients with SLE, circulating 
IFN-β levels were detected in 7.5%, 18.8%, and 98.3% by Simoa, ELISA, and S-Plex technology, respectively, 
demonstrating the utility of the S-Plex technology for quantifying this cytokine in serum. S-Plex-determined serum 
IFN-β concentrations were higher in patients with SLE than in healthy donors (median, 0.297 pg/mL vs 0.205 pg/
mL, p=0.0004, respectively), in patients with active SLE compared to those with inactive SLE (0.389 pg/mL vs 0.243 
pg/mL, p=0.0013, respectively), in patients with severe flare compared to those without flare (0.462 pg/mL vs 0.244 
pg/mL, p=0.0009, respectively), and in patients not in remission compared to those in remission (0.374 pg/mL vs 
0.239 pg/mL, p=0.0027, respectively). However, according to ROC curve analyses, S-Plex- determined serum IFN-β 
levels demonstrated poor diagnostic performances for distinguishing disease clinical status in SLE. Conclusion: Using 
S-Plex technology, circulating IFN-β levels are quantifiable in the serum of healthy donors and are significantly 
higher in patients with SLE. They increase significantly in patients with clinically active disease. Although IFN-β 
is a biomarker of SLE activity, its serum levels in patient groups show considerable overlap, making it difficult to 
reliably distinguish between different states of disease activity.
KW  - interferon beta
KW  -  systemic lupus erythematosus

DO  - 10.1684/ecn.2025.0502