In this regard, the subset analyses we carried out in which the primary findings of increased TLR4 surface expression, high proinflammatory cytokine levels after stimulation by most TLR ligands and higher constitutive MIF levels were observed in all three autoimmune disease groups as well as the immunosuppressed group as a whole indicates that these results were not driven by one subset of immunosuppressed patients. Here, TLR4 is linked to autoimmune disease.