[Clinico-immunological characteristics of systemic lupus erythematosus with Raynaud and Sjögren's syndromes (report I)].

Forty-one patients suffering from chronic systemic lupus erythematosus with Raynaud and Sjögren's syndromes and 18 patients with an acute and subacute disease course were examined. It was established that chronic SLE was marked by a high frequency of antibodies to ribonucleoprotein, an increase in the concentration of IgA, the presence of rheumatoid factor. Although the decrease in the concentration of C3c and C4 components of complement was more demonstrable in patients with an acute or subacute course of SLE, the rate of demonstration of circulating immune complexes in the patients' groups under comparison was approximately the same. Involvement of immune complexes in the development of the pathological process in different versions of SLE is discussed.