Recent advances in the immunopathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem inflammatory disease having definite etiologic associations with ethnic, genetic, viral and immunologic factors. Its pathologic hallmark, vasculitis, is currently felt to be the end result of an immune-complex mechanism. Several clinical and serologic variants of SLE are recognized including discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and drug-induced equivalents-such as procainamide-induced lupus (PIL). The distinguishing features of these variants as well as their prognosis and therapy are discussed in relation to recent developments in the immunopathogenesis of SLE.