Fig. 4

Increased autophagy formation in PBMCs from SLE-AH patients. a LC3, d Beclin-1, g mTOR and j p62 levels in PBMCs from SLE patients and HC. A positive correlation between b LC3 or e Beclin-1 levels in PBMCs from SLE patients and SLEDAI-2K activity scores. No correlation between h mTOR levels in PBMCs from SLE patients and SLEDAI-2K activity scores. c LC3, f Beclin-1 and i mTOR levels in PBMCs from HC, Nil, LN and AH patients. k LC3 and l Beclin-1 levels in LPS-stimulated PBMs from HC, Nil, LN and AH patients. Values are mean ± SD. Horizontal lines are mean values. Patient numbers, PBMCs, n = 62 for SLE, n = 7 for Nil, LN, AH. Patient numbers, PBMs, n = 5 for Nil, LN, n = 3 for AH. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001