Intrathecal antibodies and brain damage in autoimmune MRL mice

Neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestations and brain pathology are poorly understood and potentially fatal concomitants of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). For many years, autoantibodies to brain tissue (i.e., brain-reactive antibodies, BRA) were proposed as a key factor in pathogenesis of CNS manifestations. Recent evidence suggests that intrathecal BRA, rather than serum autoantibodies, are a better predictor of disturbed brain morphology and …