Association of long non-coding RNA GAS5 and miR-21 levels in CD4 + T cells with clinical features of systemic lupus erythematosus

The present study aimed to assess the expression of growth arrest-specific 5 (GAS5) and microRNA (miR)-21 in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and attempted to explore their association with clinical features. CD4 T cells were isolated from peripheral blood of healthy donors and SLE patients by magnetic-activated cell sorting. GAS5 and miR-21 expression levels in cluster of differentiation (CD)4 T cells were measured by reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results revealed that GAS5 and miR-21 levels were significantly elevated in CD4 T cells of patients with SLE compared with those in control subjects (P