Cerebral inflammation and degeneration in systemic lupus erythematosus.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review deals with new information related to central nervous system lupus, with special emphasis on mechanisms engaged in inflammation and neurodegeneration.

RECENT FINDINGS

We report the very recent findings related to neuropsychiatric lupus in areas of (1) neuroimaging, (2) immunology and genetics, (3) biochemistry, and (4) neuropsychological tests. The relation between treatment of central nervous system lupus and immunologic/biochemical parameters as an outcome variable is also reported.

SUMMARY

The recent advances in the field of neuropsychiatric lupus allow better understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease and follow-up of disease activity during immunosuppressive treatment.