Systemic Lupus Erythematosus With Isolated Psychiatric Symptoms and Antinuclear Antibody Detection in the Cerebrospinal Fluid

Conclusion: Some patients with psychiatric syndromes and increased ANA titers may suffer from psychiatric variants of SLE, even if the American College of Rheumatology criteria for SLE are not met. Whether the psychiatric symptoms in our patient represent a prodromal stage with the later manifestation of full-blown SLE or a subtype of SLE with isolated CNS involvement remains unclear. Regardless, early diagnosis and initiation of immunosuppressive treatment are essential steps in preventing further disease progression and organ damage. Intrathecal ANAs with extractable nuclear antigen differentiation may be a more sensitive marker of CNS involvement compared with serum analyses alone.BackgroundOrganic psychiatric disorders might be of immunological, infectious, epileptic, neurodegenerative, traumatic, metabolic, or vascular origins (1, 2). In recent years, limbic or nonlimbic autoimmune encephalitis received increased interest because each can mimic primary psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders (2–4). Most of these disorders are associated with autoantibodies (abs) directed against antigens on the cell surface or in the intracellular compartment (5). Hashimoto thyroiditis and rheumatic disorders, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), can also be associated with psychiatric involvement that allows for successful immunomodulatory treatment approaches (6–9).SLE is a prototypic systemic autoimmune disease that can affect the central nervous system (CNS) a...
Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research