Hospital for Special Surgery rheumatologist provides new information to aid pregnancy in women with lupus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with a higher percentage of ancestry from southern Europe have more severe disease manifestations, according to new research presented today at EULAR 2008, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France.

Researchers at Wake Forest University have uncovered evidence that the abnormal “editing” of gene messages in a type of white blood cell may be behind the development of lupus. Scientists hope the finding will lead to earlier diagnosis, a way to monitor patients’ response to therapy and possibly a new way to treat the disease.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), commonly known as lupus, can affect nearly any part of the body, including the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, nervous system, and brain. Along with joint pain, muscle pain, unexplained fever, extreme fatigue, and skin rashes, neurologic and psychiatric events often accompany this autoimmune disease.

Swedish researchers, in collaboration with foreign colleagues, have identified a number of new genes that can be tied to the disease systemic lupus erythematosus, including a gene that hopefully might be used to treat the disease in the future by regulating the production of antibodies.

Scientists have pinpointed a set of common variations in human DNA that signal a higher risk for lupus in women who carry them. Some of these variations are more common in relatives of lupus patients, which may help future studies examining whether lupus is more prevalent among certain racial and ethnic groups, according to a new study.

Some 1.5 million Americans, most of them women, suffer from lupus, a disease where the person’s immune system attacks the body’s own tissue. This week marks a significant step forward in understanding how the disease works with the online publication of four new studies identifying genes involved in this often debilitating chronic disease.

Scientists have identified a number of genes involved in Lupus, a devastating autoimmune disease, in new research published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

Investigators at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified two new targets for drugs aimed at controlling lupus. If companies are able to develop drugs that hone in on these targets, patients may be able to control their disease with few side effects.