Dry Eye and Corneal Langerhans Cells in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Table 2
Confocal microscopy results in different subgroups of SLE patients.
Study group
LC centr. (cell/mm2)
LC periph. (cell/mm2)
LCM centr.
LCM periph.
Healthy individuals
20.57 ± 21.04 (0–71)
78.00 ± 39.51 (26–223)
1.00 ± 0.69 (0–3)
2.35 ± 0.54 (0–3)
All SLE patients
43.08 ± 48.67* (1–169)
124.78 ± 165.39 (19–914)
1.43 ± 0.79* (0–3)
2.89 ± 0.42* (0–3)
SLE patients according to SLEDAI score
0 (29%)
45.84 ± 43.1* (1.8–125)
195.1 ± 292.9 (38.7–914)
1.63 ± 0.91 (1–3)
2.87 ± 0.35* (2-3)
1–8 (60%)
41.26 ± 49.35 (2–169)
90.19 ± 64.76 (19–277)
1.41 ± 0.71* (0–3)
2.88 ± 0.48* (1–3)
>8 (11%)
46.10 ± 76.99* (1–135)
133.20 ± 73.44 (48–179)
1.00 ± 1.00 (0–2)
3.00 ± 0.00* (3-3)
SLE patients according to CRP (mg/L)
≤5 (75%)
39.96 ± 50.20 (1.8–169)
135.6 ± 188.90 (19.8–914)
1.57 ± 0.81* (0–3)
2.86 ± 0.48* (1–3)
>5 (25%)
52.43 ± 46.03* (1–135)
92.31 ± 50.09 (35–171)
1.00 ± 0.57 (0–2)
3.00 ± 0.00* (3-3)
SLE patients according to Schirmer test (mm/5 min)
<10 (61%)
42.03 ± 42.62 (1–135)
147.37 ± 204.04 (35–914)
1.58 ± 0.87 (0–3)
2.91 ± 0.24* (2-3)
≥10 (39%)
44.68 ± 59.01* (1.8–169)
89.85 ± 70.92* (19.8–277.3)
1.18 ± 0.60* (0–2)
2.81 ± 0.60* (1–3)
Data are expressed as mean ± SD. Comparisons between healthy individuals and SLE patients were made with Mann-Whitney tests. * < 0.05. Subgroups were compared to each other and to healthy individuals with Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests (not found, thus not marked in table). CRP: C-reactive protein; SLE: systemic lupus erythematosus; SLEDAI: SLE disease activity index.