Severe lupus nephritis in the absence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a rare condition with an unclear clinical presentation and outcome.We conducted a historical observational study of 12 adult (age >18 years) patients with biopsy-proven severe lupus nephritis or lupus-like nephritis without SLE immunological markers at diagnosis or during follow-up. Excluded were patients with chroni...

Glomerulonephritis is a major cause of morbidity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Although substantial progress has been made in the identification of pathogenic triggers that result in autoantibody production, little is known about the pathogenesis of aggressive proliferative processes that lead directly to irreversible glomerular damage and compromise of renal function. In this ...

Abstract A leaky gut has been linked to numerous autoimmune disorders, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We had previously reported significant upregulation of anti-flagellin antibodies in the blood SLE patients and lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice, which led our hypothesis that a drove through bacterial flagellin-mediated activation toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5). Here, we investigated initia...

Adalimumab (Humira) is a tumour necrosis factor α (TNF α ) inhibitor that is approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, ankylosing spondylitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (Sullivan and Preda (2009), Klinkhoff (2004), and Medicare Australia). Use of TNF α inhibitors is associated with the induction of autoimmunity (systemic lupus e...

Abstract Hypersensitivity reactions and immune dysregulation have been reported with the use of quaternary ammonium compound disinfectants (QACs). We hypothesized that QAC exposure would exacerbate autoimmunity associated systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). Surprisingly, however, we found compared to QAC-free mice, ambient lupus-prone mice QACs led smaller spleens no change in circulating aut...

Since Grishman et al. (1967) reported organized deposits with a fingerprint pattern in kidneys with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), they have been regarded as a rare but special ultrastructural feature of lupus nephritis. Yet, these deposits were also described in a few cases with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (Spargo et al. 1980), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) (Davis ...

INTRODUCTION Although renal pathology is highly predictive of the disease course in lupus nephritis, it cannot be performed serially because of its invasive nature and associated morbidity. The goal of this study is to investigate whether urinary levels of CXC ligand 16 (CXCL16), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) or vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in patients with lupus nephriti...

Autoimmune glomerulonephritis is a common manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this study, we show that mice lacking macrophage expression of the heterodimeric nuclear receptors PPARγ or RXRα develop glomerulonephritis and autoantibodies to nuclear Ags, resembling the nephritis seen in SLE. These mice show deficiencies in phagocytosis and clearance of apoptotic cells, and the...