Novel insights into cerebral lupus

Current diagnosis, classification and sub-setting of neuropsychiatric lupus is far from optimal given that there are currently no molecular criteria for achieving this. None of the laboratory or radiographic tests currently reported is sensitive and specific in establishing the diagnosis of NPSLE. Currently we have no way of predicting which NPSLE patients might progress to manifest particular neuropsychiatric symptoms. The current proposal aims to tackle the above challenges, building upon a panel of novel autoantibody and metabolic markers we have recently identified using comprehensive profiling tools. A combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies will be used to ascertain if the levels of these novel markers in the serum or cerebrospinal fluid could help predict neuropsychiatric events in cerebral lupus.