Spearman's rank correlation test did not show any significant relationship between treatment with corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs or the clinical features age at diagnosis, malar rash, discoid or subacute cutaneous lesions, photosensitivity, oral ulcers, arthritis, serositis, or renal, neurological or hematological disorder and TNFα serum levels. This evidence concerns the gene TNF and arthritic joint disease.