Touma Z, Cervera R, Brinks R, et al. - In an international early SLE cohort and in the Euro-Lupus cohort, researchers assessed the interrelationship between candidate criteria items. The international early SLE cohort consisted of 389 individuals, who were diagnosed within the last 3 years. Some important associations between different clinical cutaneous manifestations (in particular malar rash associated with photosensitivity, alopecia, and oral ulcers) and serological manifestations (anti-Sm and anti-dsDNA and anti-RNP, anti-Ro with anti-La, and anti-phospholipid antibodies) was reported, and these findings were confirmed in the Euro-Lupus cohort. The correlations in the mucocutaneous domain, hematologic and the unique autoantibodies indicate that only the highest ranking component should be counted within a single domain in order to avoid overrepresentation. Findings suggested that some of the candidate SLE criteria do cluster within domains. Because of these interrelationships, multiple domain parameters should not be counted separately. For the structure of new SLE classification criteria, these outcomes are important.