Studies of repeat skin biopsies of nonlesional skin in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Thirty-one patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were studied by repeat biopsies of nonlesional skin to determine whether there was a relationship between disease activity (clinical and serologic) and the presence and number of immunoglobulins and complement proteins present in the dermal–epidermal junction. The data revealed significantly fewer deposits in the skin in patients without disease activity than in the patients studied during disease activity.