The correlation between tRNA fragment and clinical indicators of SLE was analyzed, amongst these tRNA fragments, tRF-3009, a small fragment (18nt long) processed from the 3′ end of mature tRNA-Leu, was positively correlated with SLEDAI, active lupus nephritis, and the serum IFN-α level, but showed no significant relationship with different treatments in SLE. Here, IFNA1 is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.