Cutaneous lupus erythematosus: a review of etiopathogenic, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects

Abstract Cutaneous lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease of varied clinical expression, which may present as an exclusively cutaneous disease or be one of the multiple manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Its classification includes acute, subacute, intermittent, chronic and bullous subtypes, which are usually identified based on clinical features and histopathological and laboratory findings. Other non-specific cutaneous manifestations may be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus and are usually related to disease activity. Environmental, genetic and immunological factors play a role in the pathogenesis of skin lesions in lupus erythematosus. Recently, considerable progress has been made in elucidating the mechanisms involved in their development, which allows for foreseeing future targets for more effective treatments. This review proposes to discuss the main etiopathogenic, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of cutaneous lupus erythematosus, aiming to update internists and specialists from different areas.

Application of reflectance confocal microscopy in interface dermatitis / 中华皮肤科杂志

Interface dermatitis refers to a group of skin diseases in which inflammation mainly involves the dermo-epidermal junction, including lichen planus, lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, lichen sclerosus, lichen nitidus, lichen striatus, erythema multiforme, bullous pemphigoid, Riehl melanosis, poikiloderma, large-plaque parapsoriasis/mycosis fungoides, etc. Interface dermatitis shows characteristic reflectance confocal microscopic features. This review summarizes reflectance confocal microscopic characteristics of interface dermatitis and recent progress in the application of reflectance confocal microscopy in auxiliary diagnosis of interface dermatitis.

Lupus eritematoso cutáneo subagudo psoriasiforme. Reporte de caso / Subacute psoriasiform cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Case report

El Lupus eritematoso sistemico (LES) subagudo representa el 10% del total de los casos y en su variedad psoriasiforme resulta poco frecuente. Presentamos el caso de una paciente femenina de 22 años con el diagnóstico previo de LES y nefropatía lúpica hace 2 años, que refiere cuadro clínico de +/- aproximadamente 2 meses de evolución posterior a la suspensión de micofenolato de mofetilo. Ccuadro caracterizado por la aparición progresiva de lesiones dérmicas discoides, costrosas y descamativas que comprometen aproximadamente el 80% de la superficie corporal acompañado de orina espumosa. Examen físico: lesiones corporales respetando palmas y plantas, dolorosas a la digitopresión. Llenado capilar > a 2 segundos. Laboratorios: leucocitos 5930 y Granulocitos 90%. Examen general de orina: infeccioso. Se trata de LES cutáneo subagudo psoriasiforme. El tratamiento fue antibiótico, inmunosupresor y antihipertensivo. Se otorgó el Aalta hospitalaria con micofenolato y ciprofloxacino. El seguimiento debe realizarse por personal médico especializado en reumatología, nefrología y dermatología.

Subacute systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) represents 10% of all cases and is rare in its psoriasiform variety. We present the case of a 22-year-old female patient with a previous diagnosis of SLE and lupus nephropathy 2 years ago, who reported a clinical picture of +/- 2 months of evolution after the suspension of mycophenolate mofetil. Table characterized by the progressive appearance of discoid, crusty and scaly dermal lesions that involve approximately 80% of the body surface accompanied by foamy urine. Physical examination: bodily injuries respecting palms and soles, painful on acupressure. Capillary filling> 2 seconds. Laboratories: leukocytes 5930 and Granulocytes 90%. General urine test: infectious. This is subacute psoriasiform cutaneous SLE. The treatment was antibiotic, immunosuppressive and antihypertensive. Hospital discharge with mycophenolate and ciprofloxacin. Follow-up should be by medical personnel specialized in rheumatology, nephrology, and dermatology.

Lupus eritematoso sistémico ampolloso en un paciente varón de 16 años / Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus in a 16-year-old male patient

RESUMEN El lupus eritematoso sistémico ampolloso (LESA) es una enfermedad vesículo-ampollosa mediada por autoanticuerpos en pacientes con lupus eritematoso sistémico (LES). Se observan vesículas y ampollas tensas sobre una piel edematosa, eritematosa y, en ocasiones, normal en cualquier región del cuerpo, incluyendo áreas mucosas y que no han sido fotoexpuestas. Se presenta el caso de un paciente varón de 16 años de edad con nefritis lúpica, que al séptimo día de hospitalización presenta múltiples ampollas serosas y hemorrágicas sobre el rostro, el tronco, el abdomen y las extremidades superiores. El estudio histológico mostró una dermatosis ampollar subepidérmica con numerosos neutrófilos.

ABSTRACT Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus (BSLE) is a vesiculobullous disease mediated by autoantibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Tense vesicles and bullae are seen on an edematous, erythematous and sometimes normal skin in any body region, including mucous membranes and non-photoexposed areas. This is the case of a 16-year-old male patient with lupus nephritis who, on the seventh day of hospitalization, presented multiple serous and hemorrhagic blisters on the face, trunk, abdomen and upper extremities. The histological study showed a subepidermal bullous dermatosis with numerous neutrophils.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa as an uncommon agent of infectious panniculitis

Abstract Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacillus that frequently causes septicemia, abscesses and infections in skin wounds. Panniculitis caused by this microorganism is unusual and there are few well-documented cases, none of them in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus. The present report describes an immunosuppressed patient with systemic lupus erythematosus who developed panniculitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with a review of the literature on this rare presentation.

Lupus eritematoso asociado a eritema multiforme: Síndrome de Rowell. Reporte del primer caso en Chile

Rowell's syndrome is characterized by an association of lupus erythematosus and erythema multiforme, with distinctive laboratory findings. Its treatment is similar to lupus. We report a 16-year-old female presenting with skin lesions, laboratory and histology consistent with this entity. Because of the spread of cutaneous involvement and development of epidermal detachment, she required therapy with intravenous corticosteroids and gamma globulin.

Coexistence of chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus and frontal fibrosing alopecia

Abstract: Lupus erythemathosus is a chronic, relapsing disease with acute, subacute, and chronic lesions. Effluvium telogen occurs in the setting of systemic activity of the disease, and cicatricial alopecia results from discoid lesionsin on the scalp. Other types of alopecia, like alopecia areata, may rarely be found in lupus. Frontal fibrosing alopecia is characterized by frontotemporal hairline recession and eybrow loss. Histophatologically, it cannot be differentiated from lichen planopilaris.It is controversial whether frontal fibrosing alopecia is a subtype of lichen planopilaris.. A pacient with chronic lichenoid lupus erythematosus is described with clinical, histophatological and dermoscopic features of frontal fibrosing alopecia.We have not been able to find in the literature cases of frontal fibrosing alopecia as a clinical manifestation of lupus.

Rowell's syndrome: 7 cases and literature review / 中华风湿病学杂志

Objective To leam the clinical features and management of Rowell's syndrome (RS).Methods The clinical information of patients with RS who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from December 2010 to December 2016 was retrospectively analyzed.Results Seven cases,6 women,1 man;with the average age at onset of (40±11) years were reported.Only one patient had clear history of seafood intake.Skin lesions presented as generalized targeted lesions,coupling with some papules.Histopathological examination revealed hyperkeratinization,partial dyskeratocytes,focal areas of basal cell liquefaction,and perivascular infiltration of lymphocytes in the upper dermis.Six of them were treated with prednisone at a dose of 0.7-1.1 mg ·kg-1 ·d-1,one was treated with methylprednisolone at a dose of 80 mg/d while in hospital and at a dose of 1.2 mg ·kg-1 ·d-1 after discharge.During the process of glucocorticoid tapering,hydroxychloroquine was administered at a dose of 0.2-0.4 g/d in 4 patients,and 1 was treated with cyclophosphamide at 0.4 g per week.Glucocorticoid could be tapered once the symptoms were relieved,4 patients without relapse while others relapsed.Conclusion RS is a rare clinical syndrome with relative special immunological presentations.No specific therapy strategy has developed for this disease.Glucocorticosteroids tapering should be slower than in those who with lupus erythematosus,and the prognosis is variable.

Lupus tumidus: a report of two cases

Abstract Lupus tumidus is considered a rare subtype of chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus, characterized by erythema and bright urticarial erythematous-violaceous lesions that leave no scars after regression. Histopathology reveals perivascular and periannexal lymphohistiocytic infiltrates in the papillary and reticular dermis and interstitial mucin deposition. Treatment is based on photoprotection, topical corticosteroids and antimalarials. We report two cases of lupus tumidus, which deserve attention for their low frequency in the literature, in addition to their relevance as a differential diagnosis among dermatologic disorders.

Linear cutaneous lupus erythematosus following the lines of Blaschko - Case report

Abstract: Chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus in a linear configuration is rare, particularly in children, demonstrating similar incidence in both genders, no photo-sensitivity and lower probability of progression to systemic disease. We describe the case of a 9-year-old girl who presented erythematous papules with central atrophy on the upper and lower right limbs, asymptomatic and following the lines of Blaschko, since age four. Histological examination showed atrophy of the epidermis with aggression from epidermal-dermal interface and periadnexal and perivascular lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate. Laboratory tests showed ANA in a titer of 1:320, in a dense and fine speckled pattern. Due to the rarity of presentation and location of the disease, this case is reported here.

Lupus eritematoso neonatal: reporte de un caso / Neonatal lupus erythematosus: case report

El lupus eritematoso neonatal (LEN) es una enfermedad muy poco frecuente que se presenta en el recién nacido, dada por el pasaje transplacentario de autoanticuerpos anti Ro/SSA, anti La/SSB y U1-RNP. Las principales manifestaciones clínicas son dermatológicas y cardíacas, pudiendo además presentar manifestaciones hepáticas, hematológicas y/o neurológicas. Presentamos un caso clínico de un lactante de 3 meses al que se le realizó diagnóstico de LEN en base a la presencia de lesiones cutáneas y hallazgos histopatológicos e inmunológicos compatibles, no se acompañó de manifestaciones sistémicas y presentó una muy buena evolución posterior. El interés del caso es mostrar una patología poco frecuente que suele presentarse con lesiones cutáneas características, destacando que el pronóstico estará determinado por el compromiso cardíaco y que permite en muchos casos realizar diagnóstico materno de una enfermedad autoinmune asintomática.

Neonatal lupus erythematosus (LEN) is a rare disease that occurs in the newborn given by the transplacental passage of maternal Anti-Ro/SSA, Anti-La/SSB and Anti-U1-RNP autoantibodies. The main clinical manifestations are dermatologic and cardiac, it may also have hepatic, hematologic or/and neurological ones. The study reports a case of a three month infant who is diagnosed with LEN, based on the presence of consistent findings of skin lesions and histopathology and immunology compatible findings. In this case, it was not accompanied by systemic manifestations evolution was a favorable one. The case is relevant since it presents an unusual condition that is usually accompanied by characteristic skin lesions, where prognosis is determined by cardiac involvement. In many cases, this enables maternal diagnosis of an asymptomatic autoimmune disease.

Clinical characteristics of 1 006 Chinese patients with lupus erythematosus: results from the Lupus Erythematosus Multicenter Case-control Study in Chinese populations (LEMCSC) / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To explore clinical characteristics of Chinese patients with lupus erythematosus (LE).Methods Data were obtained from the Lupus Erythematosus Multicenter Case-control Study in Chinese populations (LEMCSC).A unified standard was used to recruit patients and collect clinical information.The EpiData 3.1 and SPSS 18 softwares were utilized to input and analyze data respectively.Results One thousand and six patients (87.6％ female) with lupus erythematosus (LE) were included in this analysis,of whom,887 (89.9％ female) had systemic LE (SLE),and 119 (70.6％ female) had isolated cutaneous LE (CLE).The most common involved system in SLE patients was skin (72.7％),followed by joints (69.2％),hematological system (60.8％),kidney (48.5％),serosa (18.2％),and nervous system (5.7％).The appearance of LE-specific skin manifestations was associated with an increased risk of arthritis (odds ratio [OR] =1.612,95％ confidence interval [CI]:1.181-2.200),but with a decreased risk of nephritis (OR =0.218,95％ CI:0.157-0.303) and serositis (OR =0.311,95％ CI:0.218-0.443).The presence of acute CLE (ACLE) lesions was a risk factor for systemic involvement (OR =4.931,95％ CI:3.232-7.524),while that of chronic CLE (CCLE) lesions was a protective factor for systemic involvement (OR =0.355,95％ CI:0.234-0.541).The appearance of LE-nonspecific skin manifestations was closely correlated with the involvement of internal organs in patients with LE.Conclusion This study revealed main characteristics of LE patients in China and the relationship between LE-related skin lesions and internal organ involvement.

Possibly drug-induced palpable migratory arciform erythema

Palpable migratory arciform erythema is an entity of unknown etiology, with few published cases in the literature. The clinical and histopathological features of this disease are difficult to be distinguished from those of Jessner’s lymphocytic infiltration of the skin, lupus erythematous tumidus and the deep erythema annulare centrifugum. We describe here the first two Brazilian cases of palpable migratory arciform erythema. The patients presented with infiltrated annular plaques and erythematous arcs without scales. These showed centrifugal growth before disappearing without scarring or residual lesions after a few days. They had a chronic course with repeated episodes for years. In addition, these cases provide evidence of a drug-induced etiology.

Anti-TNF-α and hydralazine drug-induced lupus

Drug-induced lupus is a rare drug reaction featuring the same symptoms as idiopathic lupus erythematosus. Recently, with the introduction of new medicines in clinical practice, an increase in the number of illness-triggering implicated drugs has been reported, with special emphasis on anti-TNF-α drugs. In the up-to-date list, almost one hundred medications have been associated with the occurrence of drug-induced lupus. The authors present two case reports of the illness induced respectively by hydralazine and infliximab, addressing the clinical and laboratorial characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment.

Lupus erythematosus: considerations about clinical, cutaneous and therapeutic aspects

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a chronic inflammatory disease with multifactorial etiology. Although clinical manifestations are varied, the skin is an important target-organ, which contributes to the inclusion of skin lesions in 4 out of the 17 new criteria for the diagnosis of the disease, according to the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics. The cutaneous manifestations of lupus are pleomorphic. Depending on their clinical characteristics, they can be classified into Acute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus, Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus, Chronic Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus and Intermittent Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus. Treatment is based on preventive measures, reversal of inflammation, prevention of damage to target organs and relief of adverse events due to pharmacological therapy. The most commonly used treatment options are topical, systemic and surgical treatment, as well as phototherapy. The correct handling of the cases depends on a careful evaluation of the morphology of the lesions and the patient's general status, always taking into consideration not only the benefits but also the side effects of each therapeutic proposal.

Prognosis of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and discoid lesions / Prognostico de pacientes com lupus eritematoso sistemico e lesoes discoides

BACKGROUND: It has been observed that patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and discoid lesions have a milder systemic disease. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical, demographic and autoantibody profile of systemic lupus erythematosus patients with and without discoid lesions. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective study involving 288 systemic lupus erythematosus patients who met at least four classification criteria of the American College of Rheumatology for systemic lupus erythematosus, comparing the clinical, serological and demographic factors between patients with and without discoid manifestations. RESULTS: Of the 288 patients, 13.8% had discoid lesions. Univariate analysis found no differences in the prevalence of malar rash, photosensitivity, arthritis, serositis, leukopenia, lymphopenia and hemolytic anemia or anemia of the central nervous system (p = ns). Renal lesions were more common in those without discoid lesions (p =0.016), and hemolysis (p<0.0001) was more common in those with discoid lesions. Regarding the profile of autoantibodies, only the anti-RNP antibody was more common in those with discoid events (p =0.04). In a logistic regression study, only the renal lesions and anti-RNP maintained their associations with discoid manifestations. CONCLUSION: Patients with lesions of systemic lupus erythematosus and discoid lesions have lower prevalence of renal involvement and a greater presence of anti RNP. .

FUNDAMENTOS: Existe a observação de que pacientes com lúpus eritematoso sistêmico e lesões discoides têm uma doença sistêmica mais branda. OBJETIVO: Comparar o perfil clínico, demográfico e de autoanticorpos de pacientes com lúpus eritematoso sistêmico com e sem lesões discoides. MÉTODOS: Estudo retrospectivo de 288 pacientes com lúpus eritematoso sistêmico que satisfizeram pelo menos 4 critérios classificatórios do Colégio Americano de Reumatologia para o diagnóstico de lúpus eritematoso sistêmico, comparando-se os achados clínicos, sorológicos e demográficos entre pacientes com e sem manifestações discoides. RESULTADOS: Dos 288 pacientes, 13,8% tinham lesões discoides. Na análise univariada não se encontraram diferenças quanto à prevalência de eritema malar, fotossensibilidade, artrite, serosite, leucopenia, linfopenia e anemia hemolítica ou de sistema nervoso central (p=ns). Lesões renais foram mais comuns naqueles sem lesão discoide (p =0,016), e a hemólise (p<0.0001) foi mais comum nos com lesão discoide. No que se refere ao perfil de autoanticorpos apenas o anticorpo anti-RNP foi mais comum naqueles com manifestações discoides (p=0,04). Em estudo por regressão logística, só as lesões renais e o anticorpo anti-RNP mantiveram suas associações com manifestações discoides. CONCLUSÃO: Pacientes de lúpus eritematoso sistêmico com lesões discoides têm menor prevalência de envolvimento renal e uma maior presença do anticorpo anti RNP. .

Cutaneous mucinosis in mixed connective tissue disease* / Mucinose cutanea na doenca mista do tecido conjuntivo

Cutaneous mucinosis is a group of conditions involving an accumulation of mucin or glycosaminoglycan in the skin and its annexes. It is described in some connective tissue diseases but never in association with mixed connective tissue disease. This report concerns two cases of cutaneous mucinosis in patients with mixed connective tissue disease in remission; one patient presented the papular form, and the other reticular erythematous mucinosis. These are the first cases of mucinosis described in mixed connective tissue disease. Both cases had skin lesions with no other clinical or laboratorial manifestations, with clinical response to azathioprine in one, and to an association of chloroquine and prednisone in the other.

A mucinose cutânea é um grupo de condições em que há um acúmulo de mucina ou glicosaminoglicanos na pele e seus anexos. É descrita em algumas doenças do tecido conjuntivo, porem nunca em associação com doença mista do tecido conjuntivo. Relatamos dois casos de mucinose cutânea em pacientes com doença mista do tecido conjuntivo em remissão, um apresentava-se sob a forma papular e outro sob a forma reticular eritematosa de mucinose. Estes são os primeiros casos de mucinose descritos na doença mista do tecido conjuntivo. Ambos os casos apresentaram o quadro cutâneo de modo isolado, sem nenhuma outra manifestação clínico-laboratorial, havendo resposta à azatioprina em um e à cloroquina associada a prednisona no outro.

Congenital and neonatal lupus erythematosus: two case reports / Lúpus eritematoso congênito e neonatal: relato de dois casos

Neonatal lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease produced by the passage of maternal antinuclear antibodies and extractable nuclear antigen antibodies through the placenta. At the moment of the diagnosis, the mothers are asymptomatic in 40 to 60% of cases. The most common manifestations are cutaneous lesions and congenital heart block. The cutaneous findings are variable and usually begin within the first weeks or months of life. Congenital lupus erythematosus is a congenital variant of neonatal lupus erythematosus. We present one case of congenital lupus erythematosus and one case of neonatal lupus erythematous, showing the variability of this disease.

Lúpus eritematoso neonatal é uma doença auto-imune produzida pela passagem de anticorpos maternos antinucleares e anticorpos contra antígenos extraíveis nucleares através da placenta. No momento do diagnóstico, as mães são assintomáticas em 40 a 60% dos casos. As manifestações mais comuns são lesões cutâneas e bloqueio cardíaco congênito. Os achados cutâneos são variáveis e geralmente começam nas primeiras semanas ou meses de vida. Lúpus eritematoso congênito é uma variante do lúpus eritematoso neonatal. Apresentaremos um caso de lúpus eritematoso congênito e um caso de lúpus eritematoso neonatal, mostrando a variabilidade da doença.

Expression and significance of skin aspartic protease in lesions of cutaneous lupus erythematosus / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To study the expression of skin aspartic protease (SASPase) in lesions of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) and its role in the pathogenesis of CLE.Methods Skin samples were resected from the lesions and normal skin of 9 patients with CLE,including 3 cases of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE),4 cases of discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and 2 cases of acute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (ACLE).Keratinocytes were isolated from the tissue samples and cultured in serum-free medium.Total proteins were extracted from the keratinocytes and separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.ImageMaster 2D analysis software was used to assess differentially expressed proteins in keratinocytes between the lesional and normal skin,which were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS).The expression levels of SASPase were further determined by Western blot.The data were analyzed statistically by Student's t test.Results Keratinocytes were isolated from the tissue samples and successfully cultured in vitro.Two-dimensional electrophoresis profiles of proteins from the keratinocytes were obtained with high resolution and reproducibility,and the average matching protein spots were about 1200 with the matching rate higher than 80％.As Western blot showed,the relative expression level of SASPase was 0.463 ± 0.018 in keratinocytes from the lesional skin,and 0.145 ± 0.011 in those from the normal skin (P ＜ 0.05).The Western blot results were consistent with those of two-dimensional electrophoresis.Conclusion The initiation and progression of CLE seem to be associated with the abnormal activation and overexpression of SASPase.

Manifestaciones cutáneas de lupus eritematoso sistémico temprano y correlación con la actividad sistémica / Cutaneous manifestations of early systemic lupus erythematosus and correlation with systemic activity

Las manifestaciones cutáneas del lupus eritematoso sistémico (LES) son heterogéneas (específicas e inespecíficas). Poco se sabe acerca de la relación entre estas manifestaciones y la actividad clínica e inmunológica de la enfermedad en sus etapas iniciales. Se llevó a cabo un estudio de corte transversal en 34 pacientes con LES temprano. Se encontró una asociación significativa entre alopecia e hipocomplementemia C3 (p = 0,021), hipocomplementemia C4 (p < 0,001) y anti-Sm (p = 0,011); entre eritema malar y anti-Ro (p = 0,037) y anti-La (p = 0,037); entre fotosensibilidad y anti-RNP (p = 0,037). Se observó una tendencia a la asociación entre úlceras orales e hipocomplementemia C4 (p = 0,064). No hubo asociación entre las manifestaciones cutáneas y la presencia de anti-ADN de doble cadena (anti-ds ADN), anticuerpos anticardiolipinas, anticoagulante lúpico, VDRL falso positivo, leucopenia, trombocitopenia, hipergammaglobulinemia, elevación de la velocidad de sedimentación globular o SLEDAI. Se resalta la importancia de la relación entre las manifestaciones cutáneas inespecíficas de LES (alopecia y fotosensibilidad) y la actividad sistémica en pacientes con enfermedad temprana y la clara asociación de estas con hipocomplementemia, un marcador importante de actividad inmunológica.

Cutaneous manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are heterogeneous (both specific and non-specific). Little is known about the relationship between these manifestations and the clinical and immunological activity of the disease in early stages. We carried out a cross-sectional study in 34 patients with early SLE. We found a significant association between alopecia and hypocomplementemia C3 (p = 0.021), hypocomplementemia C4 (p < 0.001) and anti-Sm (p = 0.011); between malar erythema and anti-Ro (p = 0.037) and anti-La (p = 0.037); between photosensitivity and anti-RNP (p = 0.037). We observed a trend to association between oral ulcers and hypocomplementemia C4 (p = 0.064). No association was found between cutaneous manifestations and the presence of anti-ds DNA, anticardiolipin antibodies, lupus anticoagulant, false-positive VDRL, leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, hypergammaglobulinemia, elevated erythrosedimentation rate or SLEDAI. We highlight the relevance of the relationship between non-specific cutaneous manifestations of early SLE (alopecia and photosensitivity) and the systemic activity of the disease and hypocomplementemia, an important marker of immunological activity.