TABLE 1.

Main differences in the two recent reports focusing on the role of miRNA overexpression affecting the DNA methylation mechanism in SLE T cells.

	Pan W et al (3)	Zhao S et al (1)
Overexpressed miRNAs	MiR-21, miR-148a	MiR-126
Cell substrate used for microarray analysis	Splenic CD4+ T cells and B cells isolated from MRL/lpr mice and controls	CD4+ T cells of SLE patients and healthy controls, no mouse model
Number of SLE patients studied for miRNA expression	36 (33 female, 3 male)	30 (all female)
SLE patients' information	Complete (male/female ratio, age, disease duration, SLEDAI score, anti-dsDNA, lupus nephritis, use of steroids and secondary agents)	Limited (age, gender, SLEDAI score, medications)
Overexpressed methylation-sensitive gene targets	LFA-1(CD11a), CD70	LFA-1(CD11a), CD70, EGFL7
Cell types examined for miRNA overexpression	CD4+ T cells	CD4+ T cells and B cells