OBJECTIVES Lupus flares are triggered by environmental agents that cause oxidative stress, but the mechanisms involved are unclear. The flares are characterized by oxidative modifications of proteins by 4-hydroxynonenals, malondialdehydes, carbonyls and nitration. These modifications have been proposed to induce and perpetuate lupus flares by "altered self" mechanisms. An epigenetically altered...

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a multi-system inflammatory disease. The clinical manifestations are diverse. Hepatic manifestation is a rarely seen complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. We report a case of complication of systemic lupus erythematosus presenting as cholestatic hepatitis in a 56-year-old Chinese woman. The cholestatic hepatitis progressed as part of the lupus activity an...

Systemic lupus erythematosus is generally recognized to be a multisystem autoimmune disease with kidney involvement. However, the occurrence of other non-lupus glomerulopathies has been rarely reported in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. It is well known that lupus nephritis may switch over time to another class according to the World Health Organization classification. It seems like...

Drug-induced lupus is not a very common entity. Drugs like hydralazine, procainamide have been reported to induce lupus, but so far there is no case report of amiodarone-induced lupus in Indian literature. A case of atrial fibrillation in an elderly man who came with systemic features of lupus after amiodarone therapy for one and half years is reported.

The pleiotropic cytokine interferon alpha is involved in multiple aspects of lupus etiology and pathogenesis. Interferon alpha is important under normal circumstances for antiviral responses and immune activation. However, heightened levels of serum interferon alpha and expression of interferon response genes are common in lupus patients. Lupus-associated autoantibodies can drive the production...

BACKGROUND Anti-C1q antibodies (anti-C1q) have been shown to correlate positively with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) nephritis. Several clinical studies indicated a high negative predictive value, suggesting that active lupus nephritis is rarely seen in patients with no anti-C1q. However, the true prevalence of anti-C1q at the time of active lupus nephritis has not been well established. T...

BACKGROUND Systemic Lupus erythematosus (SLE), also commonly referred to as lupus, is a rare, but sometimes, fatal disease, that primarily affects young women. Lupus nephritis, a common manifestation of lupus, is more common and more devastating in patients of minority race/ethnicity. Patients have negative views of immunosuppressive drugs for lupus nephritis due to a concern about side effects...

Lupus nephritis is one of the most serious manifestations and one of the strongest predictors of a poor outcome in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Recent evidence implicated a potential role of interlukin-17 (IL-17) in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis. However, the correlation between IL-17 expression level and the severity of lupus nephritis still remains incompletely understood. In thi...

1. Martín JM, Ramón D, Monteagudo C, Llombart B, Castelló A, Molina I, et al. Lupus eritematoso cutáneo subagudo inducido por fármacos. Actas Dermosifiliogr. 2004;95:117--9. 2. Callen JP. Drug-induced subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2010;19:1107--11. 3. Marzano AV, Vezzoli P, Crosti C. Drug-induced lupus: an update on its dermatologic aspects. Lupus. 2009;18:935--40. 4. Callen JP...

Belimumab, on top of background Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) standard therapy, is effective in reducing SLE disease activity and preventing lupus flares, which was confirmed in “BLISS trials”. The mechanisms involved in preventing lupus flare by belimumab remain largely unknown. We aimed to explore the response of PBMCs from lupus patients under belimumab treatment to the apoptotic cells....