At the transcription level, we found that IL-15 mRNA was elevated in SLE, and RANTES (chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5)) mRNA was decreased in SLE, compared with NC (Fig. 7b), indicating that the serum level of these two cytokines corresponded with their mRNA expression in PBMC. Here, CCL5 is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.