A greater proportion of patients with MAS as an initial manifestation of SLE had positive ANA results and were more likely to have a positive direct Coombs test than patients who had MAS during the course of lupus (97.87% vs. 84.62%, p = .0431; 23.40% vs. 5.13%, p = .0185). The gene discussed is BTG3; the disease is systemic lupus erythematosus.