Lupus-like autoimmune disease associated with silicosis

Lupus-like autoimmune disease associated with silicosis.

Major occupational exposures to silica occur in the mining, stone-cutting, and abrasives industries [1,2]. Estimates of the total number of exposed workers in the US today range from 1.2 to 3 million people [2]. Although prolonged exposure to silica has long been associated with pulmonary pathology, a growing body of evidence suggests that the lung is not the only organ affected by silicosis. S...

Kikuchi's disease associated with systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune-like hepatitis.

The authors present a case of Kikuchi's disease associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and autoimmune-like hepatitis. Kikuchi's disease, or histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis is occasionally associated with SLE and mildly elevated aminotransferases. A 17-year old woman presented with fever, arthritis and bilateral cervical adenopathy. Histopathological and immunohistochemical exa...

Innate Immune Response Triggers Lupus-like Autoimmune Disease

Autoimmune disease is typically defined as an aberrant response of lymphocytes to self antigens that ultimately leads to tissue damage. Reporting in Immunity, Green et al. (2007) now show that mice lacking alpha-mannosidase II develop an autoimmune disease similar to lupus. Remarkably, this illness is precipitated by an innate immune response to altered self glycans that mimic molecular pattern...

Autoimmune retinopathy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus: A diagnostic dilemma

Visual loss in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) due to autoimmune retinopathy (AIR) is rare and easily misdiagnosed as hydroxychloroquine retinopathy. We report the rare clinical presentation of severe visual loss in a patient with SLE due to nonparaneoplastic AIR as differentiated from hydroxychloroquine toxicity. A 70-year-old female diagnosed and treated for lupus for 17 years and had been...

Lupus Model Accelerated Atherosclerosis in a Murine Autoimmune Disease Associated with Simvastatin Treatment Ameliorates