Research from Around the world
Lupus News
In an effort to understand the origin of systemic lupus erythematosus and why some patients present with more severe disease than others, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have identified a type of autoantibody that may worsen the condition and have also found how these autoantibodies originate (Anti-DNA antibodies are a hallmark of patients with SLE.).
A new study has found promise in a compound which blocks signals from special receptors in the body thought to be involved in the autoimmune response. More specifically, these receptors are proteins which are designed to detect viral RNA, but mount an autoimmune response when they mistake the body’s own RNA as a threat.
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) questionnaire is an easy-to-administer, inexpensive, effective screening tool that can identify patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who might be at risk for cognitive dysfunction (CD) and might benefit from additional neuropsychiatric assessment, according to data published in Lupus.
Lupus nephritis is recurring less frequently among patients with end-stage renal disease who undergo kidney transplant, possibly due to improved immunosuppression, according to data presented by Debendra N. Pattanaik, MBBS, MD, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.Lupus nephritis is recurring less frequently among patients with end-stage renal disease who undergo kidney transplant, possibly due to improved immunosuppression, according to data presented by Debendra N. Pattanaik, MBBS, MD, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Nitro-fatty acids — a type of fatty molecule naturally produced in the body — could act as natural inhibitors of the stimulator of IFN genes (STING), a protein involved in inflammatory diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to a study.
The study, “Nitro-fatty acids are formed in response to virus infection and are potent inhibitors of STING palmitoylation and signaling,” was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
Organs affected by autoimmune disease could be fighting back by "exhausting" immune cells that cause damage using methods similar to those used by cancer cells to escape detection, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
In The Lancet, Ronald van Vollenhoven and colleagues report a positive multicentre double-blind phase 2 randomised, placebo-controlled trial with ustekinumab, an anti-interleukin-12/23 (IL-12/23) monoclonal antibody, in 102 patients aged 18–75 years with active systemic lupus erythematosus (93 women and nine men).
Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in remission for five or more years are at a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those with shorter remission times or who fail to enter remission, a retrospective study reports.
The study, “Prolonged remission is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a GIRRCS (Gruppo Italiano di Ricerca in Reumatologia Clinica e Sperimentale) study,” was published in Clinical Rheumatology.
The transplantation of human placental cells was found to suppress immune and inflammatory responses in a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), suggesting a potential new therapeutic strategy for lupus, a study shows.
The study, “Therapeutic effect of human amniotic epithelial cells in murine models of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Systemic lupus erythematosus,” was published in the journal Cytotherapy.
