Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is considered the archetypal systemic autoimmune
disease. Clinically characterized by multisystem involvement and varied serologic
abnormalities, no two patients present or have disease that evolves in exactly the same way.
Viewed histologically, SLE is characterized by some combination of inflammation and
fibrosis, and the clinical phenotype is dictated by the relative contributions of each and the
organs affected. Tissue injury appears to be mediated by characteristic autoantibody …