OBJECTIVES--To investigate urine neopterin as a parameter of disease activity in an unselected group of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to study the relation between urine neopterin and certain patterns of organ disease and differing drug regimens in the treatment of SLE. METHODS--Neopterin was determined by high performance liquid chromatography in 115 early morning urine ...

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease resulting in autoantibody production, immune complex deposition, and complement activation. The standard biomarkers such as anti-dsDNA and complements (C3 and C4) do not always correlate with active clinical SLE. The heterogeneity of SLE patients may require additional biomarkers to designate disease activity. Ninety SLE patients parti...

As we know from the literature [1], infections are the second leading cause of death in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (25%), immediately after the complications related to disease activity (26%). Infections are an important cause of hospitalization too, mostly if there are some concomitant conditions, such as an active disease with a high SLE disease activity index score, extensiv...

Objective The variety of disease phenotypes among patients with SLE challenges the identification of new biomarkers reflecting disease activity and/or organ damage. Osteopontin (OPN) is an extracellular matrix protein with immunomodulating properties. Although raised levels have been reported, the pathogenic implications and clinical utility of OPN as a biomarker in SLE are far from clear. Thus...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-system inflammatory disease where genetic susceptibility coupled with largely undefined environmental factors is reported to underlie the aetiology of the disease. One such factor is low vitamin D status. The primary source of vitamin D is endogenous synthesis following exposure of the skin to UVB light. Photosensitivity, sunlight avoidance and the ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that is frequently treated with high doses of corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive drugs. Thus patients with SLE are at increased risk for infections with several pathogens including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There are no established guidelines available for treatment of tuberculosis in SLE patients with high disease activity ...

Background: Patients with rheumatologic diseases have higher rates of cardiovascular disease. Accelerated atherosclerosis and early coronary artery disease have become important causes of death and hospitalization in those patients which may be attributed to metabolic changes in lipids. We aimed to clarify the cardiovascular risk in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JRA), and systemi...