Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to Locate Areas of White Blood Cell Activity

You may be eligible if

• Subjects must be at least 18 years of age at time of entry.
• Subjects must have the ability to give written informed consent prior to entry in the protocol.
• Subjects must fulfill at least 4 criteria for SLE as defined by the American College of Rheumatology.
• Patient's with a body habitus not allowing for PET scanning due to technical reasons (weight exceeding 299 pounds or 136 kg) will be excluded.
• Subjects with concurrent diseases that may alter lymphocyte activation (e.g. -sarcoidosis, chronic inflammatory diseases, asthma) will not be eligible.
• Pregnant and lactating women will be excluded. Women of childbearing potential are required to have a negative pregnancy test.
• Subjects with active severe CNS lupus (encephalopathy, cerebrovascular accident, transverse myelitis, severe depression, psychosis) will be excluded.
• Subjects with a history of malignancy or current malignancy with the exception of basal cell carcinoma of the skin will be excluded.
• Subjects with viral or acute bacterial infection within 3 weeks of the study will be excluded.
• Subjects with an active infection will be excluded.
• Subjects with active hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV infection will be excluded.
• Subjects with generalized lymphadenopathy (more than 3 anatomical regions) will be excluded.
• Subjects with diabetes mellitus will be excluded.
• Subjects with a splenectomy will be excluded.
• Subjects with a poor venous access will be excluded.
• Subjects with a SLEDAI (Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index) score of greater than 2 and less than 8 will be excluded.
• Subjects with a significant concurrent medical condition that, in the opinion of the principal investigator, could affect the patient's ability to tolerate or complete the study will be excluded.