Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is the prototype systemic autoimmune disease with nonspecific, unpredictable, multiorgan involvement. The rheumatology community posits that the cause of SLE is a complex meshing of genetic and environmental factors. The origins of the SLE predisposition may involve a component of absence. Evidence from animal models, epidemiology, and translational research suggest that the SLE genotype may have originated from the sustained pressure of plasmodium infection. This hypothesis may explain the differences in incidence across different ethnicities, the observed responses to disease modifying antirheumatic agents including plaquenil, and the generally adverse response to tumor necrosis factor antagonizing agents.
William Mitchell is a naturopathic physician practicing rheumatology in Gilbert, Arizona. His special interests include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthropathy.
