Humoral intestinal immunity in systemic lupus erythematosus

Forty-five patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) underwent a cro ss-sectional study to evaluate intestinal secretory immunity. Peroral jejun al biopsy with histologic and immunohistochemical assessment of the mucosa were carried out in the patients and in 12 healthy volunteers. It was obser ved that an altered pattern of immunoglobulin-bearing plasma cells distribu ted in the lamina propria and complementary components were invariably pres ent, mainly in the patients with active disease. The basement membrane of t he intestinal crypt epithelium exhibited immunoglobulin and complementary d eposits, similar to the lupus band test. None of the immunologic findings c orrelated with the medical treatment and with the peripheral blood analysis . The local changes in humoral immunity in patients with SLE did not correl ate with gastrointestinal symptoms and may reflect the systemic effects of the disease.