Lupus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), also called lupus, is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the immune system attacking the body's own tissues and organs, leading to inflammation and damage. The severity of the disease varies, from mild cases only involving the skin to severe cases affecting multiple organs, including the brain. Lupus sufferers experience flares, or intervals of active disease, and remissions in disease. The disease most predominantly occurs in women of childbearing age, but also affects children, adolescents, and men. While the cause of lupus is still unknown, various genetic, environmental, and infectious causes have been associated with its development. Current treatments for lupus vary depending on the extent of the disease, and may change over time. Some medications used to ease symptoms include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antimalarial drugs, corticosteroids, and immunosuppressive medications, though many of these drugs carry their own risks.

What is Lupus?

Lupus, also called systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE, is a disease that affects your immune system. Normally, your immune system fights infections caused by germs.

Lupus Symptoms

Lupus Diagnosis

Lupus Flares

Lupus Treatments

Lupus and Pregnancy

Lupus and Stress

Lupus Facts

Causes of Hand Pain

Latest Lupus News and Research

Could a flavonoid found in common fruit and vegetables combat COVID-19?

Researchers in India have gathered and presented a large body of evidence highlight quercetin – a flavonoid molecule found in many common fruits and vegetables – may be developed into drug therapies used to combat COVID-19.

1 Apr 2021

Researchers identify factors linked to poor outcomes in patients with childhood-onset lupus

UT Southwestern researchers have identified factors that put patients with childhood-onset lupus at elevated risk for poor outcomes, such as end-stage renal disease or death, as they transition from pediatric to adult health care.

30 Mar 2021

New study uncovers potential therapeutic target for lupus

A recent study published in JCI found that a neutrophil's endoplasmic reticulum, the organelle that normally makes proteins in the cell, becomes stressed in the autoimmune disorder lupus.

26 Mar 2021

Lupus patients with lower vitamin D levels more likely to have metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance

Patients with lupus are more likely to have metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance - both factors linked to heart disease - if they have lower vitamin D levels, a new study reveals.

26 Mar 2021

Lupus Research Alliance announces recipients of the 2020 Distinguished Innovator Award

The Lupus Research Alliance proudly announces two exceptional recipients of the 2020 Dr. William E. Paul Distinguished Innovator Award in Lupus and Autoimmunity: Jacques Banchereau, PhD and Ignacio Sanz, MD.

25 Mar 2021

NTU scientists design new compound that could help reduce overactive immune response

When the body detects a pathogen, such as bacteria or viruses, it mounts an immune system response to fight this invader. In some people, the immune system overreacts, resulting in an overactive immune response that causes the body to injure itself, which may prove fatal in some cases.

10 Mar 2021

New compound can reduce overactivation without impairing the body's immunity response

10 Mar 2021

Coronavirus deranges the immune system in complex and deadly ways

There's a reason soldiers go through basic training before heading into combat: Without careful instruction, green recruits armed with powerful weapons could be as dangerous to one another as to the enemy.

4 Mar 2021

New approach harnesses disease-causing proteins to combat cancer

Over many decades now, traditional drug discovery methods have steadily improved at keeping diseases at bay and cancer in remission. And for the most part, it's worked well.

26 Feb 2021

Anti-phospholipid antibodies in severely ill patients not distinctive to COVID-19, says study

A new study by researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of Calgary in Canada indicates that the presence of these antibodies correlates with more severe COVID-19 symptoms and signs.

25 Feb 2021

Tumors use unique mechanism to switch on regulatory T cells for protection

Immunologists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that tumors use a unique mechanism to switch on regulatory T cells to protect themselves from attack by the immune system.

24 Feb 2021

COVID-19 may alter host proteins to cause autoimmunity

To better understand the transient and chronic autoimmune symptoms caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Guizhou Medical University, and biotech company Curandis embarked on an endeavor to establish a comprehensive autoantigenome for COVID19.

23 Feb 2021

Companies pan for marketing gold in vaccines

For a decade, Jennifer Crow has taken care of her elderly parents, who have multiple sclerosis. After her father had a stroke in December, the family got serious in its conversations with a retirement community — and learned that one service it offered was covid-19 vaccination.

19 Feb 2021

Juvenile inflammatory rheumatic disease associated with higher antibody responses to seasonal coronaviruses

A new study released on the bioRxiv* server compared the antibodies produced in young patients with these three conditions against the two immunodominant coronavirus antigens, the spike and the nucleocapsid antigens.

19 Feb 2021

Study reveals role of platelets in the development of lupus

Platelets may play a key role in the development of lupus, according to a study published today by researchers at Université Laval and CHU de Québec-Université Laval Research Center.

17 Feb 2021

Study identifies a new factor that increases risk of Alzheimer's disease

People who have a gene variant associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease also tend to have changes in the fluid around their brain and spinal cord that are detectable years before symptoms arise, according to new research from Duke Health.

12 Feb 2021

Inherited genetic variation may affect the response to cancer immunotherapy

For all their importance as a breakthrough treatment, the cancer immunotherapies known as checkpoint inhibitors still only benefit a small minority of patients, perhaps 15 percent across different types of cancer.

10 Feb 2021

UIC researchers receive $10.15 million grant to develop treatment for dry eye conditions

Researchers at University of Illinois Chicago have been awarded a five-year, $10.15 million grant to develop a broad-spectrum immunomodulatory eye drop to treat patients with severe dry eye and ocular surface disease due to inflammatory and immune system disorders.

9 Feb 2021

Researchers find possible cause for self-destructive immune system attacks in autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune diseases, in which the body's own immune system attacks healthy tissue, can be life-threatening and can impact all organs.

2 Feb 2021

If I have cancer, dementia or MS, should i get the covid vaccine?

As public demand grows for limited supplies of covid-19 vaccines, questions remain about the vaccines' appropriateness for older adults with various illnesses.

27 Jan 2021