Atherosclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic autoimmune diseases, such systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), show an increased morbidity and cardiovascular mortality and a higher incidence of early and accelerated atherosclerosis than the general population that cannot be explained only by the presence of classic risk factors such arterial hypertension, mellitus diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, obesity or smoking, but it seems to depend on factors associated with the disease. The imbalance between vascular damage and repair plays a critical role in the initiation of atherosclerotic lesion. This balance may be broken by factors associated with chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, pharmacological treatments, altered molecules and cells involved in the repair of the endothelium. Research is ongoing to identify biomarkers that can help clinicians to predict which SLE patients are the greatest risk for cardiovascular disease.