الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
SUMMARY Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease affecting many systems of the body most often harms the heart,joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidney and nervous system. Although the etiology of SLE still remains unclear, several pathogenic B cell subsets and regulatory B cell subsets have been involved in the pathogenesis of SLE. YKL-40 is an inflammation-associated glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 40 kDa. It is expressed in various cell types and increased levels of YKL-40 have been linked to inflammation and tissue remodeling. The aim of the work was to evaluate the serum level of YKL-40 in SLE patients in comparison with healthy individuals and to study its clinical significance via correlating it with SLE disease activity and organ involvement.This study included 25 adult patients with SLE diagnosed according to the ARC (1997) of SLE in addition to 25 healthy individuals of matched age and sex who served as a control group. They were collected from the Outpatient Clinics of Dermatology and Venereology Department and Rheumatology Unit of Internal Medicine Department, Tanta University Hospitals in the period from September 2020 to December 2021. Patients who had any other dermatological or systemic diseases, pregnant and lactating women were excluded. Patients less than 18 years old were also excluded. Summary 71