Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0409974 (lupus)
 22,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In a 30-year-old male patient systemic lupus erythematosus was diagnosed based on the presence of 8 out of 11 ARA criteria. Disease onset was acute and included renal function impairment with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis (WHO class IV) requiring renal replacement therapy. Although conventional immunosuppressive therapy regimens proved effective in controlling disease activity, all of the administered drugs were accompanied by serious side effects: bilateral femur head necrosis with corticosteroids, allergic skin reaction in response to azathioprine, nephrotoxicity with cyclosporine, nausea and abdominal pain with mycophenolate mofetil and life-threatening septicemia with cyclophosphamide treatment. In search for alternative treatment options, tacrolimus (FK506, trough serum levels 3-6 ng/ml) was started. FK506 was well-tolerated and lupus activity completely resolved within 7 months after initiation of therapy. During 36 months of follow-up no arthritic complaints occurred and renal function stabilized at a serum creatinine of 2.1 mg/dl with negative anti-ds-DNA antibodies and ANA titers. In conclusion, FK506 may be considered as alternative immunosuppressive for maintenance treatment in patients with severe lupus erythematosus and side effects to conventional regimens.
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PMID:Tacrolimus- (FK 506) based immunosuppression in severe systemic lupus erythematosus. 1526 13

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has a wide spectrum of laboratory findings and clinical manifestations. Our objective was to study the pleural/pulmonary involvement in patients with SLE. We have considered 200 patients, diagnosed according to ARA criteria for SLE. Patients were clinically examined, lab test (including immunology) of blood and pleural liquid were performed and also pulmonary biopsies were made. We found that pleurisy was the most frequent involvement, in 12% of patients. More than 50% of necropsies showed a pulmonary involvement; the most frequent aspect was of acute lupus pneumonia, with large hemorrhagic areas. Microscopy showed macrophages loaded with hemosiderin. The alveolar hemorrhage in SLE is due, possibly, to the impairment of coagulation and has a bad prognostic value.
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PMID:[Aspects of pleural/pulmonary involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus]. 1749 68

Photosensitivity is one of the ARA diagnostic criteria of systemic lupus erythematosus. Sun exposure can also induce extracutaneous manifestations of the disease. Photosensitivity may be difficult to prove by history taking in lupus patients, as the delay between sun exposure and the onset of specific skin lesions is rather long. Photo-induction of lupus can occur by ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation in the shadow or behind window glass, so that the relationship between radiation exposure and exacerbation of the disease may not seem obvious to the patient. Phototesting procedures for lupus erythematosus have been described, but they are not used in routine practice. Both UVB and UVA play a role in the pathogenesis of lupus erythematosus: in the epidermis they induce DNA damage, they expose nuclear antigens and photo-induced neo-antigens at the cell surface, they lead to an accumulation of apoptotic material, and they induce several pro-inflammatory cytokines. In the dermis, UV radiation triggers skin infiltration by inflammatory cells by modulation of microvascular flow rates and by upregulation of white blood cell migration from dermal capillaries to the skin. Photodistribution of skin lesions and a delay of their onset of more than 48 hours after sun exposure are clinical hallmarks of cutaneous lupus erythematosus that are usually completed by histological confirmation. Photoprotection is essential in the treatment of lupus patients: it comprises sun avoidance suitable for both UVB and UVA radiation, protective clothing, and topical broad-spectrum filters.
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PMID:[Photosensitivity in lupus erythematosus]. 1930 57


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