Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have often struggled with additional neuropsychiatric pathologies unrelated to that of lupus. Although the occurrence of events such as stroke, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and heart disease have been well-documented, the potential association between systemic lupus erythematosus and these pathologies is not well understood.

Researchers from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences investigated this issue. 204 SLE patients took a standardized questionnaire and provided their medical records for review by the researchers. Based on this information, they found that hyperuricemia in SLE patients was independently associated with a significant increase in occurrence of stroke, peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and arterial thrombosis.

This discovery will help future efforts in understanding the mechanism of neuropsychiatric abnormalities in SLE patients, as well as providing better options for treatment options for these individuals.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26232280

Contributors

David Anson, Josh Baalman, Kenneth Long, Eric Amparan, Murad Alqadi