Diet and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE): From Supplementation to Intervention

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease characterised by immune dysregulation affecting multiple organs. Current anti-inflammatory treatments used in SLE are associated with unwanted side-effects. Dietary supplementation has been suggested as a safe and effective addition to conventional treatment, but evidence of efficacy in SLE or preventing associated comorbidities is uncertain.

We identified literature on clinical trials focused on nutritional interventions in SLE aiming to improve inflammation and comorbidities. A systematic-type search on Embase, Medline, and the Cochrane Library, was conducted to identify nutritional interventions among SLE patients in the past 15 years that met our inclusion criteria.

We identified 2754 articles, of which 14 were eligible for inclusion based on our set criteria and were subsequently quality assessed. Vitamin D or E supplementation was associated with respective improvement of inflammatory markers or antibody production, but not disease activity scores in most studies. Despite their expected synergistic actions, the addition of curcumin on vitamin D supplementation had no additional effects on disease activity or inflammatory markers. Trials of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation presented significant reductions in ESR, CRP, disease activity, inflammatory markers, and oxidative stress, and improved lipid levels and endothelial function, while a low glycaemic index (GI) diet showed evidence of reduced weight and improved fatigue in patients.

Different dietary guidelines can therefore be implicated to target specific SLE symptoms or therapeutic side-effects. This systematic review highlights the scarcity of larger and longer in duration trials with homogenous methodologies and verifiable outcomes to assess disease progression.