Hematological Disorders in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: Bashal Fozya 
Published: October 2013

This article is a review of different management strategies for the hematological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the strategies include immunosuppressive drugs, some noval therapies and B-cell depletion for refractory thrombocytopenia in patients with SLE and in antiphospholipid antibody syndrome associated with SLE. The researcher questions the validity of the current classic treatment modes and the article explores the relationships between SLE hematological manifestations and the level of morbidity and mortality burden and focuses on the pathophysiology, diagnostic approaches and management strategies of these manifestations.

The researcher focuses on hematological abnormalities because they are the commonest among most manifestations in SLE seen in Anemia, leucopenias and thrombocytopenia. They commonly result from an immune mediated bone marrow failure, excessive peripheral cells destruction or certain drugs and infections. There is also an association between anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) and SLE referred to as secondary APS or SLE-APS. Furthermore, it was recently found that mycophenolatemofetil acts as corticosteroids and as cyclophosphamide sparing agent. Although there is no specific therapy for cytopenias in SLE, corticosteroids remain the mainstay in the treatment of these patients along with less used other conventional treatment options such as azathioprine, cyclophosphamide and human normal immunoglobulin. There are other novel therapies such as thrombopoietin receptor agonists in thrombocytopenia and the use of autologous hematopoitic stem cells transplantation in refractory SLE-APS that are under review. Some of these therapies include thrombopoietin receptor agonists in thrombocytopenia and the use of autologous hematopoitic stem cells transplantation in refractory SLE-APS.

The study concludes that treatment of hematological abnormalities is challenging because the treatment itself can cause undue complications sometimes such as granulocytosis due to infection or the use of high doses of steroids and may occur during acute exacerbations of SLE. It is important to take these factors into consideration for disease therapy and management.

Publication Abstract:

This article is a review of different management strategies for the hematological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The strategies include immunosuppressive drugs, some novel therapies and B-cell depletion for refractory thrombocytopenia in patients with SLE and in anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome associated with SLE. The researcher questions the validity of the current classic treatment modes and the article explores the relationships between SLE hematological manifestations and the level of morbidity and mortality burden while it focuses on the pathophysiology, diagnostic approaches and management strategies. The study concludes that hematological abnormalities are the commonest among most manifestations in SLE, and that their treatment is challenging because the treatment itself can cause undue complications sometimes such as granulocytosis due to infection or the use of high doses of steroids and may occur during acute exacerbations of SLE. It is important to take these factors into consideration for disease therapy and management.