Unveiling Neuropsychiatric Lupus: A Case of SLE Presenting With Depressive Symptoms and Literature Review

A young woman presented with a rare depressive-onset manifestation and showed a poor response to antidepressant therapy. Subsequently, with the involvement of multiple organ systems, positive autoantibodies, and multiple lesions on head MRI, she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Following the initiation of immunosuppressive treatment, the patient experienced rapid improvement in both the physical symptoms of SLE and depressive manifestations. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms linking depression in SLE patients are thought to involve inflammatory processes and microcirculatory dysfunction.