The study of METTL14, ALKBH5, and YTHDF2 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from systemic lupus erythematosus

Background This study was aimed to explore the mRNA expression of m6A "writers" (METTL3,MTEEL14, andWTAP), "erasers" (FTOandALKBH5), and "readers" (YTHDF2) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and investigate the relation between their expressions with clinical features. Methods In all, 54 SLE patients and 42 healthy controls (HC) were included in the current study. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to investigate the mRNA expression of m6A "writers," "erasers," and "readers" in PBMCs from SLE patients and HC. Results Decreased mRNA expression ofMTEEL14,ALKBH5, andYTHDF2was observed in SLE patients compared with those in HC (p < .001). The decreased mRNA expression ofMETTL14was associated with white blood cell count (WBC) and monocyte count (M), this decreased mRNA expression ofALKBH5was associated with C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil percentage (N%), lymphocyte percentage (L%), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), complement 3 (C3), and fever, and the decreased mRNA expression ofYTHDF2was associated with L%, NLR, C3, and fever. In addition, there was a positive correlation between mRNA expression ofMETTL14,ALKBH5, andYTHDF2in PBMCs from SLE patients. Importantly, logistic regression analysis revealed that decreased mRNA expression ofYTHDF2was a risk factor for SLE. Conclusion Taken all together, our findings suggested decreasedYTHDF2that was associated with disease activity may play an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE,METTL14andALKBH5may be concomitantly decreased.