CASP9 and systemic lupus erythematosus: The present results showed that in SLE patients the expression levels of FasL, caspase 8, and caspase 9 were significantly lower than control groups (0.45R versus o.78R for FasL, 0.74R versus 1.0R for caspase 8, and 0.76R versus 1.26R for caspase 9) (P <0.05), but the expression level of Fas and Bcl-2 were not significantly different in comparison with control groups (Figure 3).