BACKGROUND Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus seem to belong to different serological and clinical subgroups of the disease. Genetic background can cause the appearance of these subgroups. OBJECTIVE To determine whether Brazilian patients who have systemic lupus erythematosus and Raynaud's phenomenon differ from those who do not. METHODS Retrospective analysis of 373 medical records...

Vascular manifestations are not rare in systemic lupus erythematosus and, in most cases, are associated with antiphospholipid antibodies. Phlegmasia cerulea dolens is an unusual and severe complication of deep venous thrombosis of the lower limbs, which has a high mortality rate. In the literature, only two cases of phlegmasia cerulea dolens associated with primary antiphospholipid syndrome hav...

The role of IL-18 in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus is still not definitively solved. In this study, we generated MRLlpr mice, which develop a disease resembling systemic lupus erythematosus, genetically devoid of IL-18 expression. These mice in comparison to IL-18-competent MRLlpr mice show reduced signs of renal pathogenesis, while other parameters such as mean survival time...

Recurrent pancreatitis secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus is a rare entity of unknown etiology. We report an adolescent with systemic lupus erythematosus and recurrent attacks of acute pancreatitis, which were poorly controlled with conventional therapy for approximately four years. Rituximab, a chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy resulted in remission of symptoms for more tha...

The lupus anticoagulant, an acquired circulating serum y-globulin, prolongs all phospholipid-dependent coagulation tests. Recent associations of the lupus anticoagulant and focal cerebral and/or ocular ischemia have been made. We present 5 cases of lupus anticoagulant-associated cerebrovascular ischemia and review all reported cases for the first time. Clinical spectra, cerebral angiographic fi...

Neuropsychiatric abnormalities frequently occur in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, affecting as many as 14-75% of people with this disease. High-dose steroid with or without anticoagulation is the mainstay of treatment in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE). Use of mycophenolate as a steroid sparing drug may be a potential alternative agent in the therapy of NPLE, ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW A hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus is the production of autoantibodies that recognize nuclear antigens. However, the underlying events and mechanisms that lead to the selection of these molecules for the autoimmune response remain poorly understood. In this review, we will examine some of the proposed explanations for sources of systemic lupus erythematosus-specific au...

background: recent accumulated evidence suggests that prolactin (prl) is an important immunomodulator and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (sle). the current study aimed to compare hyperprolactinemia frequency and evaluate its possible association with lupus activity in sle patients in zahedan. methods: in a case-control study we determined serum prola...

a 31 year old woman was hospitalized for evaluation of aortic valve insufficiency and her present cardiac status. clinical and paraclinical findings strongly suggested the presence of a collagen vascular inflammatory processprecisely, the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (aps), with systemic lupus erythematosus as the underlying disease.

Lupus erythematosus panniculitis (profundus), a rare variant of chronic panniculitis, sometimes develops during the course of discoid lupus erythematosus or systemic lupus erythematosus. A 61-year-old woman had suffered from autoimmune hepatitis type I for 5 years. Prednisolone had been administered as maintenance therapy and her hepatitis had been well controlled. However, asymptomatic erythem...