Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissues, producing widespread inflammation and damage that can affect the joints, skin, kidneys, blood, and other organs. Within rheumatology and arthritis research, SLE is a centra…

Curated from this journal's research 📚 12 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 55× across the literature 🗓 Reviewed July 2026

Overview

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissues, producing widespread inflammation and damage that can affect the joints, skin, kidneys, blood, and other organs. Within rheumatology and arthritis research, SLE is a central example of a systemic autoimmune connective-tissue disease, notable for its clinical variability and frequent musculoskeletal involvement. Patients commonly experience fatigue, symmetric joint pain and swelling, photosensitive skin rashes, and fever, and the disease may progress to organ-threatening complications such as lupus nephritis. SLE develops through a loss of immune self-tolerance shaped by genetic predisposition, hormonal factors, and environmental exposures, resulting in autoantibody production and immune-complex-mediated tissue injury. Diagnosis can be challenging and relies on combining clinical assessment with serologic markers, including antinuclear and anti-double-stranded-DNA antibodies. Therapy is tailored to disease severity and aims to control inflammation and prevent damage using corticosteroids, antimalarial drugs, immunosuppressants, and targeted biologic agents. Research assembled here connects SLE to wider autoimmune and inflammatory biology, including studies of regulatory genetic variants and transcription-factor binding in disease, overlapping autoimmune syndromes, immune thrombocytopenia, and the influence of genes, inflammation, and environment on autoimmune disease, reflecting the shared mechanisms relevant to arthritis and related conditions.

Research published in this journal

12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

2021

How this research is being cited

The 12 articles above have been cited 55 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in Arthritis Research and Therapy.

Journal editorial board
Roberto Paganelli · Italy Riccardi Carlo · Italy Helena Idborg · Sweden

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.