The novel T helper 17 subset have been associated with several autoimmune disorders in humans. They secrete a distinctive set of immunoregulatory cytokines, including IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-22, and IL-21. T helper cells have been extensively studied in SLE. Th 17 cells were assessed in SLE by assessing the expression of the lineage specific transcription factor, retinoic acid related orphan receptor gamma t (RORγt) determined by Real Time PCR. Our results have shown a significant reduction of RORγt in SLE patients compared to control subjects.