A female preponderance for chemically induced lupus in SJL/J mice

Both spontaneous and chemically induced rodent models of autoimmune nephritis and autoantibody production have been explored to understand mechanisms involved in human systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). While it has been known for decades that women are more susceptible than men to SLE, mechanisms underlying this female preponderance remain unclear. One chemically induced model involves injection of hydrocarbon oils such as pristane into otherwise normal mouse strains, which results in the development of autoantibodies and inflammation in organs such as kidney and liver. It is unknown whether lupus-like disease induced by chemicals would exhibit a sex bias in disease susceptibility. Here, we show that SJL/J female mice injected with pristane display greater mortality, kidney disease, serum anti-nuclear and anti-dsDNA antibodies than their male siblings. This is the first evidence that a female sex bias exists in a chemically induced lupus model.