Lupus

Lupus erythematosus (lupus in Latin) is a rare autoimmune disease, also known as buterfly lichen. In lupus erythematosus, the immune system turns against the body’s own healthy cells. This results in damage to organs and organ systems.
There are various forms of lupus erythematosus: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can affect all organs. Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) usually only affects the skin. Neonatal lupus erythematosus in infants is a consequence of maternal lupus erythematosus disease.

Lupus erythematosus runs in families (genetic predisposition), is not contagious and can occur at any age. It should be noted that women of childbearing age are usually affected. The course of lupus erythematosus otien progresses in relapses, i.e. iterative active phases of the disease. Between relapses, there may be relatively long phases in which the lupus is “dormant”, i.e. hardly active or not active at all. The main characteristic of lupus erythematosus is buterfly erythema. Buterfly erythema is a reddening of the face that spreads in the shape of a buterfly. This is why lupus erythematosus is also known as buterfly lichen.

Although the name lupus was already documented in the 10th century, it was only generally introduced by the Lombard surgeon Roger Frugardi (around 1140-1195). Lupus is derived from the Latin for wolf. The reason for this is that in the past, scars (atier skin damage had healed) were compared to scars from wolf bites. The word erythematosus means “blushing” and is based on the effects of buterfly lichen. A genetic predisposition as well as endogenous and exogenous factors play an important role in triggering the disease.

As an autoimmune disease, lupus erythematosus causes the immune system to “go crazy”. Instead of only being active in an emergency, it is permanently activated and constantly produces a high number of antibodies against the body’s own cell nuclei. These antibodies are called antinuclear antibodies (ANA for short). These autoantibodies atack the body’s own cells.
The autoantibodies cause cells to die. Nuclear components are released when the dead cells disintegrate. As a result, the immune system also recognizes healthy cells as foreign. In a healthy person, these dead cells would be eliminated immediately so that the immune system does not even meet the nuclear components. In lupus erythematosus, however, the immune system jumps on the cell nuclei that are mistakenly recognized as foreign, which are in fact the body’s own healthy cells.