Relation of Positive L.E.-Cell Preparations to Activity of Lupus Erythematosus and Corticosteroid Therapy

Abstract

AFTER the introduction of corticosteroid therapy for systemic lupus erythematosus, conflicting reports on the effect of the new agents on the L.E.-cell phenomenon appeared in the literature. Most investigators agreed that L.E. cells were found more frequently in acutely ill patients than in those who were in remission or whose disease was milder.^{1 2 3 4} Some reported that L.E. cells could no longer be found after steroid therapy,^{3 , 5 6 7 8 9} and others that the cells persisted after steroid therapy.^{10 , 11} After a decade of experience a reappraisal of the effects of steroids on the L.E. cell and of the relation of disease activity to the . . .