The Federico II University Hospital Company coordinates the LUNET project.

It is called SLE, an acronym for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, and is a complex, chronic, multisystem autoimmune disease characterized by high clinical variability and a strong impact on patients' quality of life. It affects several thousand people in Italy, with a higher prevalence in the female sex and a significant presence in southern Italy and Campania.

To foster collaboration between hospitals and specialists nationwide and promote the dissemination of best practices, for a comprehensive care of SLE patients, the LUNET (Lupus italian NETwork) project, coordinated by Professor Amato de Paulis, Director of the UOC of Internal Medicine and Clinical Immunology of the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Federico II in Naples, was launched.

"The management of SLE," explains Professor de Paulis, "has always been characterized by considerable fragmentation, with facilities often operating independently and with little sharing of data and experiences gained in daily clinical practice. LUNET was created to overcome these critical issues, creating a structured and shared network that allows to harmonize diagnostic and therapeutic pathways and improve the quality of patient care."

The project, recently published in the international Journal of Clinical Medicine, aims to foster the homogeneous application of best clinical practices and to promote new multicenter studies capable of producing scientific evidence also aimed at the introduction of innovative therapies.

"Promoted by the Italian Society of Allergology, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC) and coordinated by our Center," adds de Paulis, "LUNET establishes for the first time a national network of clinical centers dedicated to SLE, to which 20 hospital facilities throughout Italy have already joined. This is a fundamental step toward a truly integrated and multidisciplinary approach."

The project involves numerous Italian experts in clinical immunology, rheumatology, and internal medicine and is in collaboration with the Clinical Research Organization (CRO) In&Fo&Med, with the aim of building a shared database and promoting educational and research activities.

"We are proud that the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Federico II is coordinating an initiative of such scientific and clinical relevance," says General Director Elvira Bianco. "LUNET represents a virtuous model of collaboration between institutions and the scientific community, capable of translating research into effective care responses, and consolidates the role of our Company as a point of reference for innovation and treatment of complex diseases.