When SLE patients recruited in this study were classified into active and inactive groups based on disease severity by SLEDAI score, the correlation between disease severity and percentages of IL-23R+ or IL-17+ T cells was not found in inactive SLE groups, but the correlation were found in active SLE patients between IL-23R+CD8+ T cells only after ex vivo stimulation. This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and systemic lupus erythematosus.