{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T23:14:26Z","timestamp":1789773266856,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,10]],"date-time":"2025-04-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744243200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Universitas Padjadjaran"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Lymphopenia is associated with disease activity in adult patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but no similar studies exist among children. Furthermore, lymphopenia has only been used as a parameter of disease activity in the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), but not as an independent marker. Objectives: This study aimed to ascertain lymphopenia as an independent marker related to disease activity in children with SLE. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study on patients newly diagnosed with SLE. The data were collected from January 2009 to March 2017, including clinical manifestations, complete blood counts, anti-dsDNA, and Mexican-SLEDAI (MEX-SLEDAI) scores. Statistical analysis was performed using the Chi-square test, Student\u2019s t-test, and ROC curve analysis. Results: A total of 103 patients, aged from 12 to 18 years, participated in the study. Of these, 58 patients (56.3%) exhibited lymphopenia. The most commonly observed clinical manifestations in the lymphopenia group included nephritis (72.4%), hypertension (24.1%), and leukopenia (36.2%), with p &lt; 0.05. Furthermore, neuropsychiatric SLE was found exclusively in the lymphopenia group. A negative correlation was observed between lymphocyte counts and anti-dsDNA levels (r = \u22120.24), as well as between lymphocyte counts and the MEX-SLEDAI score (r = \u22120.63, with p &lt; 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve indicated that a lymphocyte count with a cut-off point of \u22641738\/mm3 is significant for predicting anti-dsDNA reactivity. Conclusions: Lymphopenia is significantly correlated with higher anti-dsDNA levels and increased disease activity, potentially serving as an independent marker of disease activity in children with SLE. However, further research is needed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children12040486","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,10]],"date-time":"2025-04-10T05:28:07Z","timestamp":1744262887000},"page":"486","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Lymphopenia as an Independent Marker of Disease Activity in Children with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8372-8456","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gartika","family":"Sapartini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran\/Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung 40161, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Reni","family":"Ghrahani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran\/Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung 40161, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4842-2451","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Budi","family":"Setiabudiawan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran\/Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung 40161, Indonesia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, President University, Bekasi 17550, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejr.2014.01.005","article-title":"Lymphopenia and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, a Preliminary Study: Correlation with Clinical Manifestations, Disease Activity and Damage Indices","volume":"36","author":"Faddah","year":"2014","journal-title":"Egypt. 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