 ReviewVasculitis: mechanisms involved and clinical manifestationsLoic Guillevin1  and Thomas Dörner2 1Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital Cochin, rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques, F-75014 Paris, France 2Klinische Hämostaseologie and Rheumatologie, Charite Universitätsmedizin, Berlin and German Center for Rheumatology (DRFZ), Schumannstrasse, D-10098 Berlin, Germany  author email corresponding author email
Arthritis Research & Therapy 2007,
9(Suppl 2):S9doi:10.1186/ar2193
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15 August 2007 |
Abstract
Systemic vasculitis, an inflammatory necrotizing disease of the blood vessel walls, can occur secondary to autoimmune diseases, including connective tissue diseases. Various pathogenic mechanisms have been implicated in the induction of vasculitis, including cell-mediated inflammation, immune complex-mediated inflammation and autoantibody-mediated inflammation. This inflammatory activity is believed to contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis, and also leads to increased risk for cardiovascular events in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Endothelial cell activation is a common pathogenic pathway in the systemic vasculitis associated with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, with elevated levels of endothelin-1 potentially inducing vascular dysregulation. | 
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