Fig. 1.

Relative MIF and CD74 mRNA expression. MIF and CD74 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from control subjects (CS) and systemic sclerosis (SSc) (A, C). MIF and CD74 mRNA expression in SSc patients with limited cutaneous (lcSSc) and diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) (B, D). Relative expression analysis was performed using 2-ΔCq and 2-ΔΔCq methods, and the GAPDH gene was used as the reference gene. Statistical comparisons between groups were made using the Mann-Whitney u test