On the other hand, immunosuppressive therapies may downregulate the NOD2 expression in CD8+ T lymphocytes, monocytes, mDCs and pDCs in SLE patients which subsequently reduce IL-10 production, contributing towards the regulation of immunopathological mechanisms of SLE, at the expense of increasing the risk of concurrent bacterial infection. Here, NOD2 is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.