Neuropsychiatric lupus: a myriad of symptoms requires a myriad of models

Neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE) is believed to manifest in 30-40% of SLE patients, with symptoms spanning from fatigue and anxiety to depression, cognitive impairment, and psychosis. Over the past decades, it has become clear that most animal models of SLE also present with some level of NPSLE-like disease. Similar to the diversity of presentations among NPSLE patients, symptoms of NPSLE differ between animal models, likely due to their fixed genetic background. Therefore, both genetic and therapeutic studies have focused on different mechanisms in different models, making it difficult to translate basic research findings to the clinical realm. Here, we summarize studies of different animal models of NPSLE, specifically focusing on differences and overlaps between identified pathological pathways.