Search

Lupus mesenteric vasculitis (LMV) is a severe and potentially fatal complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Although LMV is always a consideration in adolescents and adult patients with SLE, who present with acute abdominal pain, diagnosis and management remain a great challenge. We describe the cases of five patients age 14 to 21 years old diagnosed with LMV. All five patients had active SLE and typical clinical presentation suspicious of LMV. Abdominal CT was the preferred imaging modality and was useful in four patients. Corticosteroids were the mainstay of treatment for all five patients. All five patients survived and complete remission of symptoms was achieved in four out of five patients with the addition of cyclophosphamide and in one out of five with rituximab. A review of the literature was performed including a systemic review of the case reports and case series published in the English literature over the last 20 years.

Author(s): Fotis, Lampros; Shaikh, Nur; Baszis, Kevin; French, Anthony; Tarr, Phillip; Grevich, Sriharsha; Lee, Peggy; Ringold, Sarah; Leroux, Brian; Leahey, Hannah; Yuasa, Megan; Foster, Jessica; Sokolove, Jeremy; Lahey, Lauren; Robinson, William; Newsom, Joshua; Stevens, Anne; Karasawa, Rie; Tamaki, Mayumi; Tanaka, Megumi; Sato, Toshiko; Yudoh, Kazuo; Jarvis, James N; Moncrieffe, Halima; Bennett, Mark F; Tsoras, Monica; Luyrink, Lorie; Xu, Huan; Prahalad, Sampath; Morris, Paula; Dare, Jason; Nigrovic, Peter A; Rosenkranz, Margalit; Becker, Mara; O’Neil, Kathleen M; Griffin, Thomas; Lovell, Daniel J; Grom, Alexei A; Medvedovic, Mario; Thompson, Susan D; Zhu, Lisha; Jiang, Kaiyu; Wong, Laiping; Buck, Michael J; Chen, Yanmin; Moncrieffe, Halima; Brungs, Laura; Liu, Tao; Wang, Ting; Jarvis, James N; Alsaeid, Khaled; Alfailakawi, Jasim; Alenezi, Hamid; Alsaeed, Hazim; Beukelman, Tim; Natter, Marc; Ilowite, Norm; Mieszkalski, Kelly; Burrell, Grendel; Best, Brian; Bristow, Helen; Carr, Shannon; Dennos, Anne; Kaufmann, Rachel; Kimura, Yukiko; Schanberg, Laura; Blier, Peter R; Boneparth, Alexis; Wenderfer, Scott E; Moorthy, L Nandini; Radhakrishna, Suhas M; Sagcal-Gironella, Anna Carmela P; von Scheven, Emily; Gedik, Kader Cetin; Siddique, Salma; Aguiar, Cassyanne L; Erkan, Doruk; Cohen, Ezra; Lee, Yvonne; Dossett, Michelle; Mehta, Darshan; Davis, Roger; Gilbert, Mileka; Goilav, Beatrice; Meidan, Esra

Receptor-mediated endocytosis is the process by which cells internalize ligands that have specifically interacted with cell surface receptors. Within intracellular endosomal compartments, receptor/ligand complexes can be targeted to lysosomes for degradation, recycled back to the plasma membrane, or sorted separately to these destinations. We have developed a mechanistic mathematical model that can account for the spectrum of experimentally observed endosomal sorting outcomes. The central hypothesis of this model is that receptors may be selectively retained by putative endosomal retention components and that this process may be modulated by receptor occupancy. This hypothesis is supported by the recent discovery of an endosomal retention component involved in targeting epidermal growth factor receptors to lysosomes. In this paper, we use the model to predict how changes in key cellular and molecular parameters alter sorting outcomes. This analysis provides guidance for rationally modulating the sorting process in a variety of biomedical applications, either by the manipulation of cellular parameters or the design of ligand properties.

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes that play a critical role in early host defense against viruses. Through their cytolytic capacity and generation of cytokines and chemokines, NK cells modulate the activity of other components of the innate and adaptive immune systems and have been implicated in the initiation or maintenance of autoimmune responses. This review focuses on recent research elucidating a potential immunoregulatory role for NK cells in T-cell and B-cell-mediated autoimmune disorders in humans, with a particular focus on multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematous. A better understanding of the contributions of NK cells to the development of autoimmunity may lead to novel therapeutic targets in these diseases.

Autoimmune diseases are often characterized as clinical syndromes caused by the inappropriate activation of T or B cells resulting in systemic or organ-specific damage. However, studies support a role for the innate immune system, and in particular natural killer (NK) cells, in stimulating or suppressing autoimmunity. This review focuses on recent research elucidating a potential immunoregulatory role for NK cells in modulating T and B cell-mediated autoimmunity.