We recently showed that clinical remissions in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) after immunoablation and autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) are associated with depletion of the autoreactive immunological memory and the de novo generation of a juvenile and tolerant immune system. Nevertheless, relapses of SLE may occur. Purpose We further followed the clinical, serological and immunological data of our patients to identify predictive cellular markers for the development

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... of lupus fl ares after ASCT. Methods Since 1998 we have longitudinally analysed the immune reconstitution in seven patients with SLE who underwent CD34-ASCT after immunoablation with CYC and ATG. Autoantibody titres were evaluated with indirect immunofl uorescence for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and ELISA, and peripheral T and B lymphocyte subsets were immunophenotyped using multicolour fl ow cytometry including assessment of TCR Vβ-repertoire on CD4 T cells and Siglec-1 (CD169) on monocytes as surrogate for type I interferon signature. Results Clinical remissions (SLEDAI ≤ 3) could initially be achieved in all patients associated with the disappearance of