“Lupoid hepatitis” in SLE patients and mice with experimental lupus

- Autoimmune “lupoid” hepatitis shares certain clinical and serological features with SLE.
- Although the diseases are clinically distinct, 3% of SLE patients develop manifestations of autoimmune hepatitis.
- Mice with pristane-lupus also develop autoimmune hepatitis as a late manifestation of their autoimmune disease.
- These observations suggest common mechanisms in the immunopathogenesis of autoimmune hepatitis and SLE.

The unusual subset of patients with severe hepatitis, hypergammaglobulinemia, arthritis, and LE cells in the blood reported by Henry Kunkel and others suggested to these investigators that “lupoid” hepatitis might share pathogenic mechanisms with SLE. More than half a century later, the etiology of autoimmune hepatitis remains unclear. The occurrence of autoimmune hepatitis in a small fraction (about 3%) of SLE patients in our lupus cohort and in two mouse models of SLE supports their conclusion that lupoid hepatitis may be share pathogenic mechanisms with SLE. The development of autoimmune hepatitis in mice with pristane-induced lupus provides an opportunity to further explore the potential link between these two autoimmune disorders.