Lupus is proving a fertile ground for research into mechanisms of accelerated atheroma. Often referred to as ‘the new diabetes’, lupus has a relative risk of myocardial infarction way in excess of, for example, other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The possible suspects are discussed in this issue of LUPUS, with the antiphospholipid antibody family becoming increasingly important.
The observation that mycophenolate mofetil might have therapeutic properties in some models of accelerated vascular disease has thus added impetus to studies of mofetil in lupus and related diseases.
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