THE EFFECT OF PLASMA EXCHANGE ON THE SKIN LESIONS IN SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

The clinical effects and the changes of laboratory data after plasma exchange (PE) in 11 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) refractory to the corticosteroid and other drug therapy were investigated. After several PEs, 8 out of 11 patients clinically improved especially in the skin lesions, namely butterfly-shaped skin rashes or skin ulcers and so on. And the decrease of the antibody to DNA and immune complex was significantly correlated with the degree of the clinical improvement. Furthermore, the intensity of anti-endothelial cell antibody demonstrated by the indirect immunofluorescent method, which was different from antibody to DNA or immune complex, was closely related to the skin lesions of SLE. But the change of the intensity of anti-endothelial cell antibody and the degree of the improvement of skin lesions are not necessarily correlated and this reason remains to be elucidated.