{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T15:13:34Z","timestamp":1789398814456,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,27]],"date-time":"2023-07-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1690416000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["81873102, 81703966"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["81873102, 81703966"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004731","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["LY22H290006, LBY22H270003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LY22H290006, LBY22H270003"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004731","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012175","name":"Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012175","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Endocrinol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease with a remarkable predominance in female, suggesting that steroid hormones may be involved in the pathogenesis. However, steroid signature of SLE patients has not been fully explored.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A metabolic profiling analysis based on gas chromatography\/mass spectrometry (GC\/MS) with high sensitivity and reproducibility was employed to comprehensively reveal SLE-specific steroid alterations.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>More than 70 kinds of steroids in urine were detected by gas chromatography\/mass spectrometry (GC\/MS) to reveal SLE-specific steroid alterations. Principle component analysis demonstrated that the steroid profile was obviously distinguished between patients with SLE and controls. A lower level of total androgens was observed in patients, and nine androgens [dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), testosterone, Etio, androsterone, \u03b2\u03b1\u03b2-Diol, Epi-An, Epi-DHT, 16\u03b1-OH-DHEA, and A-Diol] underwent significant decrease. Moreover, patients with SLE exhibited a slightly higher level of total estrogens than controls, and three estrogens (17-Epi-E3, 17\u03b1-E2, and E3) were remarkably increased. Furthermore, we identified the elevation of two sterols (Lan and Chol), and the reduction of one corticoid (11-DeoxyF) and two progestins (5\u03b1-DHP and 11\u03b2-OH-Prog) in patients.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>In this study, metabolic signature of urinary steroids associated with SLE was comprehensively defined by GC\/MS for the first time, and steroid metabolism disorders were found in patients with SLE, especially the conversion of androgens to estrogens. Our findings will provide new insights for a deeper understanding of the mechanism of steroid hormones in the pathogenesis of SLE and will help to unravel the reason of sexual disparity in SLE.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2023.1164679","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,28]],"date-time":"2023-07-28T02:25:15Z","timestamp":1690511115000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Characteristics of steroid hormones in systemic lupus erythematosus revealed by GC\/MS-based metabolic 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