expression explained only about 24 to 27% of the higher amount of soluble BAFF, indicating that an increase in translation level was also probably involved. The strong increase in the serum concentration of the soluble BAFF protein (about 19% per BAFF-var allele) led to other important downstream events closely linked to BAFF function, such as a rise of the number of circulating B cells and immunoglobulins, mainly IgG, IgA and IgM. Additionally, we observed a reduction of circulating monocytes, a phenomenon probably due to a negative feedback mechanism to compensate the augmented production of soluble BAFF in these cells. Overall, the immune system dysregulation caused by BAFF-var led to increased risk of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus (figure 3).
