Furthermore, injection of pSAP at the late stage of SLE disease with the established lupus nephritis remarkably reduced proteinuria and lupus nephritis, while slowly decreased levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies and immune complex deposition were noticed in these pSAP-treated mice, indicating that the protective effect of SAP treatment in the late stage of SLE disease was not exclusively attributable to the decreased levels of anti-dsDNA autoantibodies. The gene discussed is APCS; the disease is lupus nephritis.