Serum lymphocytotoxic antibodies in neuropsychiatric lupus: A serial study

Abstract The pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric (NP) SLE remains speculative. A relationship between circulating brain cross-reactive lymphocyte antibodies (LCA) and NP-SLE has been postulated but serial, prospective study of LCA in individual patients with SLE has rarely been performed. In the current study a group of 34 patients with SLE was analyzed using clinical, neurologic, psychiatric, and neuropsychological examinations, together with routine serological tests, to define NP-SLE. Previous history of alloimmunization was also recorded. LCA were measured by a two-stage microcytotoxicity assay against a panel of 25 normal donor B and T cells, at both 40 and 37°C. LCA by this method were found in the serum of 20 34 (58%) SLE, 2 22 (9%) rheumatoid arthritis, and 3 24 (12%) antinuclear-antibody-positive chronic psychiatric patients ( P P