Lupus Erythematosus News and Research

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Research uncovers previously unknown mechanism that could be key to alternative lupus treatment

Only one new drug has become available over the past 50 years for the estimated 1.5 million Americans and five million-plus people worldwide suffering from lupus, but new research has identified a previously unknown mechanism involved in the immune response that could provide an alternative therapy target.

10 Feb 2017

Genetic variant encoded in NCF1 linked to increased risk for autoimmune diseases, study shows

Investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina report pre-clinical research showing that a genetic variant encoded in neutrophil cystolic factor 1 (NCF1) is associated with increased risk for autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjögren's syndrome, in the January 2017 issue of Nature Genetics.

8 Feb 2017

Novel biomarkers enhance power to predict therapeutic efficacy in LN prognostic models

Results of preclinical studies by investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina reported in the August 2016 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology demonstrate for the first time that including novel biomarkers in lupus nephritis (LN) prognostic models significantly increases their power to predict therapeutic efficacy.

12 Oct 2016

Researchers identify key immune differences that could help in development of effective HIV vaccine

One of the main mysteries confounding development of an HIV vaccine is why some people infected with the virus make the desired antibodies after several years, but a vaccine can't seem to induce the same response.

30 Jul 2016

High frequency of alleles could increase risk of lupus in non-Europeans

Non-Europeans have a higher frequency of the gene variants that increase the risk of lupus as compared to the European population, a new study from researchers at the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London, has confirmed.

11 Jul 2016

Health care resource use and costs of H.P. Acthar® gel for multiple sclerosis relapse

Mallinckrodt plc, a leading global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced new retrospective health economic data on H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection; RCI), which may be an option for the management of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses.

6 Jul 2016

Enhanced activation of B cells may contribute to SLE severity in African Americans

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that affects multiple organs. SLE severity is highly variable, and this variability is known to be partially dependent on ancestral background.

16 Jun 2016

Researchers find link between specific genetic pathway and development of mouth ulcers in lupus patients

The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress showed for the first time an association between a specific genetic pathway and the development of mouth ulcers in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

13 Jun 2016

Women with SLE may have increased cervical cancer risk

The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress found a doubled risk of pre-malignant cervical changes, and potentially also an increased risk of cervical cancer, among women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) compared to the general female population.

10 Jun 2016

Air pollution exposure may have direct role in triggering lupus among children and adolescents

The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress show for the first time that an individual's exposure to air pollution may have a direct role in triggering disease activity as well as airway inflammation in children and adolescents with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

10 Jun 2016

Study shows inhibition of SHP-2 enzyme can diminish lupus symptoms

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have identified an enzyme that is significantly elevated in mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus and in blood samples of patients with lupus.

17 May 2016

CSL362 antibody targets, depletes pDCs and other cells implicated in SLE

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects multiple organ systems. Autoantibodies, which are produced by B cells, contribute to development of SLE.

6 May 2016

Newly published manuscripts enhance understanding of the immune system

MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, today announced that it has achieved a significant scientific milestone by publishing three manuscripts in Nature Immunology that advance the understanding of the immune system and highlight underlying mechanisms in two little-understood disease areas -- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

26 Apr 2016

LAP defects may lead to lupus-like autoimmune disorder

A casual observation about size differences in mice has led to the discovery that defects in a process for digesting dead cells called LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) may lead to a lupus-like autoimmune disorder. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the research, which appears as an advance online publication today in the scientific journal Nature.

21 Apr 2016

Oxidized mitochondrial nucleoids released from neutrophils may contribute to SLE pathogenesis

Researchers at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research have discovered that the neutrophils of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients release oxidized DNA from their mitochondria that can stimulate an unwanted immune response.

19 Apr 2016

Cell-signaling protein holds key to understanding autoantibody formation in lupus patients

A signaling molecule called interferon gamma could hold the key to understanding how harmful autoantibodies form in lupus patients. The finding could lead to new treatments for the chronic autoimmune disease, said researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

12 Apr 2016

Researchers use DNA sequencing technology to identify gene variants that affect susceptibility to SLE

Demonstrating the potential of precision medicine, an international study based at UT Southwestern Medical Center used next-generation DNA sequencing technology to identify more than 1,000 gene variants that affect susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

21 Mar 2016

Xencor begins XmAb5871 Phase 2 trials in patients with IgG4-RD and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Xencor, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergic diseases and cancer, today announced dosing the first patient in a Phase 2 trial of XmAb5871 in patients with IgG4-Related Disease (IgG4-RD).

8 Mar 2016

Distinctive gene 'signature' may lead to new way to diagnose Lyme disease

Researchers at UC San Francisco and Johns Hopkins may have found a new way to diagnose Lyme disease, based on a distinctive gene "signature" they discovered in white blood cells of patients infected with the tick-borne bacteria.

12 Feb 2016

IMP, WEHI scientists successfully characterize central regulator of plasma cell function

Plasma cells play a key role in our immune system. Now scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, Austria, and at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne, Australia, succeeded in characterizing a central regulator of plasma cell function.

20 Jan 2016