ABSTRACT
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-systemic autoimmune disease characterized by various clinical manifestations and a huge number of autoantibodies. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification of SLE requires the presence of at least four of 11 criteria in a given patient in order to establish diagnosis1. Therefore, whereas one patient could have mild disease manifested by arthritis, photosensitivity, the presence of antinuclear antibodies and mild thrombocytopenia, another patient could experience a life-threatening condition including, for example, rapidly progressive renal failure, pleural effusion, autoimmune hemolytic anemia and high titers of anti-dsDNA autoantibodies. Nonetheless, both patients have the same disease, and this exemplifies the difficulties in new therapy evaluation in SLE. The problem is partially over-come by the use of disease activity scores such as the systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) or Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM), which combine several clinical and laboratory parameters. Treatment of SLE patients usually consists of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids and other agents including cytotoxic ones (i.e. cyclophosphamide). These treatment options are often associated with serious adverse effects.
