RSS Feeds
Lupus Meningitis
Antibody to Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and DNA:anti-DNA Complexes in Cerebrospinal Fluid
- EMMET B. KEEFFE, M.D.;
- EMIL J. BARDANA, JR., M.D., F.A.C.P.;
- RONALD J. HARBECK, Ph.D.;
- BERNARD PIROFSKY, M.D., F.A.C.P.; and
- RONALD I. CARR, M.D., Ph.D.
Abstract
A patient with systemic lupus erythematosus presented with meningitis. All attempts to isolate a microorganism were unsuccessful. Hypocomplementemia, associated with antibodies to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and DNA:anti-DNA complexes, was found in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. We found a striking correlation among the presence of these complexes, activity of disease, and symptomatic improvement from corticosteroids. These findings suggest that lupus meningitis is a distinct, immunologically mediated clinical entity.
Article and Author Information
-
▸From the Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Medicine, University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, Oregon; and the Section of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, National Jewish Hospital and Research Center, Denver, Colorado.
-
Grant support: research grants AI-10940, AI-10872, and AI-09481, National Institutes of Health.
-
▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Emil J. Bardana, Jr., M.D., Division of Allergy and Immunology, University of Oregon Medical School, 3181 S. W. Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97201.
-
- Received April 26, 1973.
- Accepted September 24, 1973.
