Lupus erythematosus is a chronic disease in which the body's immune system starts to attack itself. It can damage any organ, although the most affected zones are usually the skin, the kidneys, the joints and the nervous system. Lupus sufferers can face numerous complications which affect their day-to-day lives and require constant medical attention. Diagnosis of the disease is often difficult because its initial symptoms - joint pain, fatigue, skin blotches and fever can be confused with those of other common diseases.

In spite of the advances that have been made in the treatment of lupus, there is still no effective cure. Some medicines do, however, help to control its symptoms and stop the disease spreading. Nonetheless, these medicines are not specifically for the treatment of lupus, and they frequently have various side-effects which can have repercussions on the health of the sufferer.

In recent years, several studies have confirmed that habitual moderate consumption of extra virgin olive oil is effective for preventing and treating certain diseases involving chronic inflammation and irregularities in the immune system. In other words, olive oil consumption in the context of a healthy Mediterranean diet has been linked with improvements in the symptoms of these diseases.

The research group Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Seville has shown how a diet rich in extra virgin olive oil is effective in preventing and treating rheumatoid arthritis, a disease which shares some symptoms with lupus, in an experiment on mice. After six months of development of lupus, it was shown that the animals fed on extra virgin olive oil had a lower mortality rate than those who had not had this diet. In addition, in terms of of kidney damage, it was demonstrated that the mice that received extra virgin olive oil as their main source of fat suffered less inflammation and damage overall.

Finally, to extrapolate these results, a study in collaboration with the University Hospital Virgen del Rocío in Seville has been planned to confirm the benefits of consuming extra virgin olive oil for controlling the symptoms and development of this disease. This project has emerged as part of the study by the Spanish ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness, entitled 'Biodirected Chemical Study and Pharmacological Characterisation of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Lupus Erythematosus'.