EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SUBCLINICAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN SLE

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This study will examine the distribution of traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and indices of subclinical atherosclerosis ( coronary artery calcification and intimal media thickness) and how they differ in lupus (SLE) subjects as compared to controls, and will then institute a period of follow up . SLE patients have a heightened inflammatory state and immune dysregulation secondary to autoimmune disease which likely contribute to the pathogenesis of accelerated atherosclerosis in SLE.