Following vehicle injection, plasma ACTH did not differ between SLE and C57 mice (3.0 ± 0.5 vs. 3.7 ± 0.4 ng/mL; p = 0.378, data not shown), nor SLE and control (NZW) mice (3.0 ± 0.5 vs. 3.0 ± 0.3 ng/mL; p = 0.913; Figure 4A). Here, POMC is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.