Lupus

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.

Latest Lupus News and Research

Low socioeconomic status associated with certain kidney diseases

A new study found an inverse association between socioeconomic status and certain kidney diseases. The findings appear in an upcoming issue of CJASN.

20 Feb 2020

Scientists isolate individual cells that cause autoimmune disease

Researchers have homed in on the cells that cause an autoimmune disease to arise in the body. The study, published in the journal Cell in February 2020, as part of the far-seeing Hope Research project, reports on the discovery.

13 Feb 2020

Immune cells count each other in order to decide whether to attack

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications in February 2020 shows that immune cells consult and coordinate with each other at the site of activity to bring about a balanced but adequate reaction and stave off the threat.

13 Feb 2020

Lupus patients who adhere to medications have lower risk of type 2 diabetes

Patients with lupus who take their medications as prescribed have much lower odds of developing type 2 diabetes, a common complication of the disease, finds a new study from the University of British Columbia.

11 Feb 2020

High bacterial levels in half of lupus skin rashes

A new study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology reports that half the skin lesions present in patients with lupus show the presence of viable staph bacteria. This makes them more susceptible to skin infections and also increases the risk that the infection will spread to others.

9 Feb 2020

Lymphopenia may hint a higher risk of future illness, death

Lymphopenia, which indicates lower levels of lymphocytes in the blood, has been tied to a higher risk of future illness and death, a new study found.

13 Jan 2020

New antibody shows promise in active lupus

A new trial involving the use of an antibody called anifrolumab reports improvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) after 52 weeks of treatment. The research, titled 'Trial of Anifrolumab in Active Systemic Lupus Erythematosus', is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

19 Dec 2019

UAB seminar on the extraordinary science of the immune system

"The human immune system makes my head explode," Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matt Richtel recently told a University of Alabama at Birmingham freshman seminar on immunology. "This is by far the hardest subject I have ever had to explore."

15 Dec 2019

Yale scientists flip the script on novel cancer therapy to find new insights into lupus

In the last decade, scientists discovered that blocking a key regulator of the immune system helped unleash the body's natural defenses against several forms of cancer, opening up a new era of cancer immunotherapy.

11 Dec 2019

UCLA scientists discover reason for higher rates of autoimmune disease in women than men

UCLA scientists have discovered one reason why autoimmune diseases are more prevalent in women than in men.

11 Dec 2019

NeutroCure project aims to cure inflammatory disease with neutrophils

Curing disease with neutrophils; this is the goal of the NeutroCure project. How will that work? "Neutrophils have a yin yang character," explained Andrés Hidalgo, whose team at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares is one of six member groups participating in this project coordinated by Andriy Mokhir Friedrich from Alexander University, Germany.

5 Dec 2019

The 2019 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for IgG4-Related Disease released

The American College of Rheumatology and the European League Against Rheumatism released the 2019 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for IgG4-Related Disease. It is the first criteria developed specifically for this recently recognized disease.

4 Dec 2019

Sphingolipids associated with heart disease in African Americans with lupus

When it comes to cholesterol, we've come to accept a simple narrative. Our risk of heart disease is lower when we have more "good cholesterol," or high-density lipoproteins (HDL), and less "bad cholesterol," or low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and triglycerides.

21 Nov 2019

Malaria research advances immunotherapy in lupus, HIV

A new study published on November 19, 2019, in the journal Cell Reports, shows how the body’s immune system responds to malaria, which in turn promises to teach scientists how to design more effective therapies for a range of illnesses that are modulated by the immune response.

19 Nov 2019

Male patients with lupus often have more severe disease, receive little support

A national survey of male patients with lupus finds the illness has a significant impact on their physical and emotional health, yet they often do not receive support that could help them cope.

11 Nov 2019

Acute kidney injury on the rise in hospitalized pregnant women

A study presented at ASN Kidney Week 2019 (November 5 to November 10) shows that the rate of acute kidney injury (AKI) is rising among US women who are hospitalized in pregnancy. The highest risk is in pregnant diabetic women. Women who suffer acute damage to the kidney while pregnant have 260 times the risk of death while in hospital compared to other pregnant women, at 2.6% vs 0.01%. Both mother and baby are at risk of increased illness and death if the woman has kidney injury during pregnancy.

11 Nov 2019

New textbook on mysterious and deadly cytokine storm syndrome

There's no telling where the call will come from, or when. But Randy Cron, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and medicine at UAB, knows to expect them.

11 Nov 2019

Lupus flare-ups could be linked to environmental factors

Researchers have found that alteration in the environment and atomospheric factors could be associated with organ specific flare-ups of lupus among patients diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erethematosus (SLE). The study results were presented at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. The abstract was titled, “Environmental and Atmospheric Factors in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Regression Analysis.”

11 Nov 2019

Study shows ADA2 is a sensitive, specific biomarker for macrophage activation syndrome

According to new research findings presented at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA2) in the peripheral blood is a sensitive, specific biomarker for macrophage activation syndrome, a potentially life-threatening complication of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (systemic JIA)

10 Nov 2019

Additional medications needed to control the symptoms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis

According to new research findings presented this week at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, there is a profound ongoing need for additional medications to control the signs and symptoms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, despite the availability of several approved biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (biologics).

10 Nov 2019