Disturbances in autophagy are known to be implicated in autoimmune disorders.
Many studies have connected polymorphisms in autophagy-related gene 5 (ATG-5)
to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Our aim was the determination of the expression
level of ATG-5, Beclin-1 and microtubule-associated protein-light chain 3 (LC-
3) in Egyptian SLE patients to investigate the impact of disturbances in autophagy
genes on the incidence and progression of the disease. Also, we investigated the
incidence of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs573775 in ATG-5 gene among
Egyptian SLE patients. Our results showed that the mean levels of Beclin-1, LC-3
and interleukin (IL)-10 transcripts were significantly higher in SLE patients compared
to healthy controls. The previous transcripts were positively correlated with SLE
Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI). Beclin-1 and LC-3 transcripts were negatively correlated
to complement component 3 (C3) levels. Only LC-3 transcripts were negatively
correlated to complement component 4 (C4). The rs573775 SNP of ATG-5 with
the variant allele was significantly associated with disease susceptibility, conferring
a higher risk of SLE development. This variant allele was more prevalent in patients
below 30 years, patients with anemia and in patients with anti-double-stranded DNA
(dsDNA), confirming the essential role of ATG-5 polymorphism in the susceptibility
of Egyptian patients to SLE.