Lupus enteritis and lupus cystitis are relatively rare manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Some patients develop severe complications such as bowel perforation, infarction, obstruction, or irreversible bladder dysfunction. Early diagnosis is critical for management of lupus enteritis and cystitis. We report a 48-year-old Japanese man who presented with initial manifestations of abdo...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can be associated with vascular thrombosis due to antiphospholipid antibodies. Accumulating evidence indicates that renal microvascular thrombosis due to lupus anticoagulant is an independent risk factor for poor renal outcome in lupus nephritis [1, 2]. In this report, we present a young woman with diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis and glomerular microthro...

A patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) is described, in whom stress fractures of both legs developed, accompanied by swelling of both ankles. The swelling of the right ankle associated with fracture mimicked lupus synovitis, but resolved with healing of the fracture. On the left side the swelling represented true lupus synovitis coexistent with the tibial stress fracture. This pres...

The role of DNA as the target for pathogenic lupus autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus is equivocal and renal damage may be due to cross-reactivity of lupus Abs with glomerular components. We have previously shown that lupus autoantibodies bind to the laminin component of the extracellular matrix. In the present work, we have analyzed the fine specificity of the interaction of pathog...

B cells play important roles in autoimmune diseases ranging from multiple sclerosis to rheumatoid arthritis. B cells have also long been considered central players in systemic lupus erythematosus. However, anti-CD20-mediated B cell depletion was not effective in two clinical lupus studies, whereas anti-B lymphocyte stimulator, which inhibits B cell survival, was effective. Others and we previou...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease, characterized by an autoantibody response to various nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. Renal disease in SLE occurs in 40-75% of patients, most often within five years of onset of disease, and is one of the strongest predictors of a poor outcome. A hallmark of glomerular involvement in lupus nephritis is the presence of auto...

Chilblain lupus erythematosus is a rare form of cutaneous lupus erythematosus characterized by bluish red infiltrates in acral locations of the body mostly affecting middle-aged women. We recently described a familial form of chilblain lupus manifesting in early childhood caused by a heterozygous mutation in the TREX1 gene, which encodes a 3'-5' DNA exonuclease. Thus, familial chilblain lupus r...

With the BLyS inhibitor Belimumab recently approved by the United States Food and Drug administration as the first treatment for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in decades, and the ongoing trials of other cytokine inhibitors as potential therapeutic agents for lupus, the potential of cytokines in the realm of therapeutic targets for lupus is beginning to reach its promise. These fascinating molecu...

This review highlights advances made over the past 2 years in understanding the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). The criteria used in selecting the articles include: 1) the study was performed using human subjects as opposed to animal models; 2) the quality of methods, data, and interpretation were acceptable; and 3) a current body of literature exists supporting causality ...