Novel therapeutic approaches in systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a prototypical systemic autoimmune disease, affecting multiple organs and organ-systems, leading to a wide variety of symptoms, serological and clinical features. The pathogenesis of the disease encompasses a complex interplay among various immune-competent cells and inflammatory mediators, which gives ground to target numerous potentially harmful players in this system. The aim of the present review was to depict certain aspects on the pathogenesis of SLE and to highlight pathways that can be promising targets of novel therapeutic approaches. T-cell, B-cell targeting, modification of co-stimulatory pathways, anti-cytokine therapy, soluble mediators, as well as autologous stem cell transplantation have been addressed. Finally, we described potential side effects of these biologics.