Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease. Its variable course makes it difficult to standardize patient treatment. This article aims at a literature review on available drugs for treating SLE and on drugs that have shown therapeutic effects in this disease. The PubMed/MEDLINE electronic search engine was used to identify relevant studies. This review presents the current therapeutic options, new biological therapies, and combination therapies of biologics with standard immunosuppressive and immunomodulating drugs. We have also underlined the importance to implement the treat-to-target strategy aimed at reducing or discontinuing therapy with glucocorticosteroids (GCs). The awareness of the benefits and risks of using GCs helps in refining their dosage and thereby obtaining a better safety profile. The advent of biological targeted therapies, and more recently, low-molecular-weight compounds such as kinase inhibitors, initiated numerous clinical trials in SLE patients and led to the approval of two biological drugs, belimumab, and anifrolumab, for SLE treatment. Progress in the treatment of SLE was reflected in the 2019 and 2021 recommendations of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR). However, a mass of recent clinical research data requires continuous consolidation to optimize patient outcomes.

JAKs are intracellular protein tyrosine kinases that, through activation of STATs, are responsible for signal transduction pathways that regulate cellular responses to numerous cytokines, growth fa...

Clinical activity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) predicts the natural course of the disease and the response to treatment. Several molecules are involved in new bone formation resulting in structural damage in patients with AS. However, the link between the clinical and molecular phenomena has not yet been fully established. The aim of the study was to investigate the relation between markers of bone remodeling and inflammation with clinical activity and structural damage in AS.

DOI: 10.20452/pamw.16656, Published online: January 02, 2024, Authors: Katarzyna Pawlak-Buś^1,2, Piotr Leszczyński^1,2

Vocal cords palsy is a rare complication in the course of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A 38-year-old female patient with a history of SLE presented with chronic voice hoarseness resistant to standard treatment. High levels of antinuclear antibodies including dsDNA, Ro52, SSA, SSB were confirmed, while antiphospholipid antibodies were absent. While other causes of voice hoarseness were excluded, bilateral vocal cords palsy was diagnosed. Moreover, the patient revealed features of obvious Hashimoto thyroiditis with high levels of antithyroid antibodies and also developed a convergent squint as a result of fatigability of oculomotor muscles. Electrophysiology test of peripheral nerves detected myasthenic type nerve-muscle conduction impairment which was suspected as the cause of reported symptoms. Possible reasons for emerging signs and symptoms of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus were discussed as well as the presence of vasculitis, neuropathy, significance of thyroiditis and coexistence of myasthenia. All that reasons of similar autoimmune background were also raised in this case report.

Cognitive impairment is a significant clinical problem both in multiple sclerosis (MS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. In MS cognitive dysfunction has been associated with brain atrophy and total demyelinating lesion volume. In SLE cognitive impairment is much less understood, and its link to structural brain damage remains to be established. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between subcortical gray matter volume and cognitive impairment in MS and SLE. We recruited 37 MS and 38 SLE patients matched by age, disease duration and educational level. Patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a battery of psychometric tests. Severity of cognitive impairment was similar in both cohorts despite larger white matter lesion load in MS patients. Psychometric scores were associated with global and subcortical gray matter atrophy measures and lesion load in MS, but not in SLE. In SLE, the lack of a relationship between cognitive impairment and structural damage, defined either as atrophy or white matter lesions, indicates a different causal mechanism of cognitive deficit.