Viruses and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Abstract

ALTHOUGH the cause of systemic lupus erythematosus remains elusive, considerable research has led to an understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for the principal lesions. In addition, recent findings in animal models and clinical studies of systemic lupus erythematosus are relevant to a broad group of common disorders characterized by lesions in which antigen–antibody complexes participate. This research has been particularly exciting because some unexpected findings have led far afield—even to the apparently unrelated area of cancer.Our investigations were initiated by a unique opportunity, the diagnosis of a typical case of systemic lupus erythematosus in a dog. This animal, . . .