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Lupus Vasculitis Underlies Skin Denervation

Monday, September 11, 2006

Lupus Vasculitis Underlies Skin Denervation

To better understand why some lupus patients develop a loss of nerves in the skin, the researchers of this study measured density of nerve fibers within the skin and looked at the relationship of nerve density to lupus activity, the sensitivity of nerves to touch, and the electric activity associated with the use of different parts of the body.

There were 45 lupus patients in the study (4 men and 41 women). Compared with healthy people of the same age and gender, the density of the nerves in the lupus patients was lower. Eleven patients (24.4%) were found to have a kind of inflammation of the blood vessels in the skin (cutaneous vasculitis) which is often found in lupus patients, and the severity and extent of this vasculitis seemed to be associated with lower nerve density. In addition, patients with active lupus had lower nerve density in the skin than those with inactive lupus.

Loss of nerve density was found not only in the patients with skin symptoms, but also in the patients with symptoms that affected brain function. In the lupus patients, the sense of touch was less sensitive to the perception of warmth and coldness compared to healthy people. This loss of sensitivity to heat and cold was also associated with reduced nerve densities.

In conclusion, blood vessel inflammation in the skin (cutaneous vasculitis) may lead to the loss of nerves in the skin in lupus patients, and this might lead to dysfunction in the perception of heat and cold. This suggests the importance of treating some symptoms of lupus that may otherwise be regarded as low grade and less important in some quarters.

Click here to read the abstract.

Ming-Tsung Tseng, Song-Chou Hsieh, Chia-Tung Shun, Kuang-Lun Lee, Chun-Liang Pan, Whei-Min Lin, Yea-Hui Lin, Chia-Li Yu, and Sung-Tsang Hsieh
Brain 2006;129(4):977-985

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