Figure 3.

Changes in disease activity versus changes of six defined laboratory parameters over time. All results are based on a total of 69 patient visits of 20 different systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Delta values were calculated by subtracting values for a defined parameter from an actual visit from a defined parameter from the last visit (for example, ΔC3 = C3_{(visit n + 1)} - C3_{(visit n)}. Only changes in Anti-dsDNA-NcX and antinucleosome ELISA results correlated significantly with changes in modified Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (mSLEDAI 2000 [25]) score over time. The mSLEDAI items for double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and complement components C3 and C4 were excluded to avoid bias. Linear regression analysis was used to calculate significance.