Footnotes

• Contributors RJF, PHN, JAGM and WFP provided clinical care for the patients. JGM and ESK reviewed patients’ clinical information. DOB, LTA and JGM conceived and designed the research. Clinical flow cytometry data were provided by JLS. YH and SLH provided expert statistical analysis and interpretation. CJP obtained institutional review board approval for this study. CEM, ESK, KAC, LTA and CJP collected data. CEM, JGM, SLH, WFP and DOB interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors participated in reviewing the manuscript and approved the final version.

• Funding This work was supported by a Program Project Grant number 5P01DK058335-14 from NIH/NIDDK and the Vasculitis Foundation.

• Competing interests None declared.

• Patient consent Obtained.

• Ethics approval University of North Carolina Institutional Review Board.

• Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

• Data sharing statement This research includes flow cytometry data derived from clinical tests and clinical information regarding disease diagnosis and disease status from 50 subjects. The final dataset includes self-reported demographic data and other clinical laboratory data. Even though the final dataset will be stripped of identifiers prior to release for sharing, we believe that there remains the possibility of deductive disclosure of subjects. Thus, we will make the data and associated documentation available to users only under a data-sharing agreement that provides for (1) a commitment to using the data only for research purposes and not to identify any individual participant; (2) a commitment to securing the data using appropriate computer technology; and (3) a commitment to destroying or returning the data after analyses are completed.