[Lymphocytic and lymphocytoactive components in the etiopathogenic mechanisms of systemic lupus erythematosus. An analysis of the literature].

Lymphocyte populations play an important role in the mechanism of autoantibody induction, mainly of antinuclear ones, in such collagen diseases as S.L.E. Aetiology and pathogenesis of SLE are multifactorial: genetic predisposition, lupogenic factors (among them the hormonal ones) with direct and indirect action on B and T lymphocytes, conditioning the production of lymphocytotoxins and antibodies against blood cells. Subjects carrying the HLA DRW3 antigen have three to four times more probabilities to get a S.L.E. In the serum of SLE patients as well as in their relatives auto-or heterolymphocytotoxic antibodies are present, directed against the antigens of the HLA complex. There is evidence that antilymphocyte antibodies appear in patients with procainamide induced SLE, as well as anti-IgG - and antierythrocyte antibodies; this fact is due to the impairment of the immunologic regulation. Concerning the circulating immunocomplexes (CIC) in idiopathic S.L.E., it was observed that they increase in patients with active SLE, but there is no statistical evidence of a significant inverse proportional rate of these parameters. The role of CIC in SLE induction is bound with T lymphocyte subsets.