The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of mesenchymal stem cell infusion in patients with autoimmune diseases. A total of 404 patients with autoimmune diseases who received mesenchymal stem cell infusion between 2007 and 2016 were included in this study. Adverse events in these patients were collected, mainly including infections and malignancies. Sources of information included hospitalization records and data from outpatient visits and each follow-up. The mean follow-up period of all patients was 43.4 ± 25.9 months (range 1–109). Majority of stem cells were from the umbilical cord. The most common indications for mesenchymal stem cell infusion were systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren’s syndrome, and systemic sclerosis. The median age at infusion was 38.7 ± 15.7 years. The 5-year and 8-year survival rates were 90.4% and 88.9%, respectively. Median follow-up of survivors was 45.1 ± 25.7 months. The incidence rate of infections was 29.5% (119/404), and that of serious infections was 12.9% (52/404). Five patients (1.2%) experienced malignancies. Deaths occurred in 45 patients, and transplantation-related mortality was 0.2%. The most common causes of deaths in our study were disease relapse and complications associated with the underlying disease. Autoimmune disease is an emerging indication for mesenchymal stem cell infusion. Our data shows that mesenchymal stem cell infusion is a safe therapy for patients with autoimmune diseases. The incidences of adverse events, whether infections or malignancies, are acceptable in these patients. ClinaicalTrials.gov, NCT00698191 . Registered 17 June 2008—Retrospectively registered

Objectives: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is one of the most commonly used markers of inflammation in clinical practice. However, its value in predicting disease behavior in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical significance of ESR in a large cohort of Chinese patients with SLE. Methods: Data of 1,217 patients with documented ESR values were extracted from a lupus database collected by Jiangsu Lupus Collaborative Group. The associations of ESR with diverse manifestations, disease activity, damage accruement, and concurrent infection status were evaluated using logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the optimal cutoffs for ESR and the C-reactive protein (CRP)/ESR ratio. The prognosis of patients with normal and high ESR was assessed using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Results: Of the patients in this cohort, 81.0% had increased ESR values. ESR elevation was independently associated with fever (OR = 1.664, 95%CI = 1.072–2.583), serositis (OR = 2.005, 95%CI = 1.105–3.64), interstitial pneumonia (OR = 3.394, 95%CI = 1.176–9.796), hypoalbuminemia (OR = 1.536, 95%CI = 1.076–2.193), and anemia (OR = 3.102, 95%CI = 2.213–4.348). Compared with the damage accrual score [the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SDI)], there was a stronger correlation between the ESR value and the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) score, and a value not less than 25 mm/h helped to define disease activity with high sensitivity. The increase of ESR was much slower than that of CRP at the time of infection, and a CRP/ESR ratio ≥0.5 had high specificity to depict the presence of infection. The 5- and 10-year survival rates of patients with elevated ESR values were worse than those with normal values. Conclusions: This study suggests that ESR is not only related to disease activity and prognosis but also to the patient’s autoimmune status. The CRP/ESR ratio helps distinguish the presence of infection in patients with SLE.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1767359.].