PhD Scientific Days 2025

Poster Session III. - X: Conservative Medicine

Upregulated Glucose Metabolism Correlates with Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus Clinical Activity

Name of the presenter

Bokor Laura

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University

Authors

Laura Bokor¹, Zsófia Király¹, Botond Szabolcs¹, Lajos Kemény¹, Anna Sebestyén², Ágota Szepesi², Anita Mohos¹, Bernadett Hidvégi¹

1: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University
2: Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University

Text of the abstract

INTRODUCTION Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is an autoimmune skin disease that may present as a localized cutaneous condition or as a manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus, potentially indicating severe, multi-organ involvement. Higher glucose availability and a rapid shift in metabolism to glycolysis are necessary for T cell and keratinocyte activation and proliferation, both of which play a major role in CLE pathomechanism. However, glucose metabolism in CLE is yet unknown. Here, we seek to test the hypothesis that elevated GLUT1 transporter expression and consequently increased intracellular glucose availability correlates with CLE disease activity.
METHODS Skin biopsy samples were collected from 51 patients with active, untreated CLE lesions at the Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. GLUT1 and MxA (Mx1) expression were evaluated using immunohistochemistry, while gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to identify immunometabolism-related transcriptional changes. The CLASI score was used to determine disease activity.
RESULTS Significantly increased GLUT1 expression was observed in keratinocytes in CLE compared to healthy control. A significant positive correlation was observed between keratinocyte GLUT1 expression and both keratinocyte and lymphocyte MxA expression in CLE samples (p=0.004, r=0,394; p= <0.001, 0.466). Furthermore, a significant positive correlation was observed between the CLASI score and keratinocyte GLUT1 expression (<0.001, r=0.47). Consistently, GSEA revealed that inflammatory pathways were significantly upregulated in CLE skin samples with high GLUT1 expression.
CONCLUSION To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the impact of glucose metabolism on CLE disease activity. The observed upregulation of GLUT1 expression in CLE skin and its correlation with MxA expression and the CLASI score may suggest a potential role of glucose metabolism in the immunopathogenesis and clinical activity in CLE.
Funding: This project was funded by the New National Excellence Program 2023/24 of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary (ÚNKP-23-3).