However, some patients would seek medical treatment only when the disease was serious, which might explain why the level of circulating IL-17 was significantly higher in active SLE patients than in inactive SLE patients only in Asia (Fisher z = 0.80; Z = 2.312, P = 0.021), not in Africa (Z = 1.724, P = 0.085). This evidence concerns the gene IL17A and systemic lupus erythematosus.