Evaluation of: Chung CP, Avalos I, Oeser A et al. High prevalence of the 
metabolic syndrome in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: association 
with disease characteristic and cardiovascular risk factors. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 
66(2), 208-214 (2007). Systemic lupus erythematosus is associated with higher 
rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, related to accelerated 
atherosclerosis. This additional clinical complication can be attributed to 
traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis, use of corticosteroids and might 
also be the result of inflammatory mechanisms, all of which are aggravated in 
lupus patients. In this regard, inflammation is not only associated with 
systemic lupus patients but is also present in patients with metabolic syndrome 
and insulin resistance. The paper under evaluation examined the hypothesis that 
patients with lupus have a higher prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and that 
there is an association of the metabolic syndrome with other cardiovascular risk 
factors and inflammation.