Cognitive and neurologic deficits in the MRL/lpr mouse: a clinicopathologic study.

Objectives. Determine if the MRL/lpr mouse develops neurological deficits and, if so, the pathologic basis for these deficits. Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are associated with ischemic stroke, multiinfarct dementia, chorea, and cardiac valvular abnormalities. The MRL/lpr mouse develops high titer anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) suggesting that it may be used as a model for the neurological complications of aPL. Methods. We undertook a prospective clinicopathologic study comparing the MRL/lpr mouse against its congenic strain, the MRL/+ mouse. We studied 15 MRL/lpr and 15 MRL/+ mice at 16 to 20 weeks and a group of 16 mice of each strain at 8 to 10 weeks. aCL and anti-DNA antibodies were measured by ELISA