Familial Patterns in Childhood- & Adult-Onset SLE

These findings may be difficult to translate into counseling for patients. No specific genetic analysis was conducted looking for the genes that lead to SLE susceptibility.

“This [study] doesn’t give us enough information to tell a patient in the clinic that their first-degree relatives should be tested to see if they are likely to develop lupus,” Dr. Rubinstein says. “What this paper, along with other research, hints at is that somewhere down the line we may be able to add genetic counseling to our toolbox. This paper by itself, isn’t going to change how we talk to our patients, but it does add to the evidence that there is a very complex genetic component involved.”

Kurt Ullman is a freelance writer based in Indiana.

Reference

1. Sinicato NA, de Oliveira L, Lapa A, et al. Familial aggregation of childhood- and adulthood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020 Aug;72(8):1147–1151. Epub 2020 Jun 11.