Interestingly, levels of IFNα2 and TNFα were closely correlated (R=0.95), and while females with SLE tended to have lower levels of these two cytokines than healthy control females, males showed the opposite trend, with SLE males expressing higher levels of IFNα2 and TNFα than healthy control males (Table 2). This evidence concerns the gene IFNA2 and systemic lupus erythematosus.