They found HNE-specific epitopes in the epidermis and dermis of patients with SLE, pemphigus vulgaris and contact dermatitis, as well as antibodies against HNE-modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the sera of patients affected with SLE, Siögren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis and idiopathic inflammatory miopathies, and also in the sera of diseased MRL/lpr mice. Here, ALB is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.