Research into lupus treatments suffered a setback after the failure of anifrolumab in clinical trials. However, during the 2019 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, Richard Furie, MD, outlined the possibilities of multiple new lupus therapies under investigation…
Results from a Phase 3 study showed ixekizumab significantly improved the signs and symptoms of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis in patients…
Antibody-secreting cells are important for the pathophysiology of SLE and RA, but researchers have been unable to determine how these cells are activated. A new technique is able to distinguish between naïve autoreactive B cells and established antibody secreting cells…
Although antimitochondrial antibodies are present in SLE patients, researchers have has difficulty investigating the phenomenon due to barriers in isolating pure mitochondria. The study describes a technique that allows for such an investigation and provides insight into how the adaptive immune system recognizes mitochondrial organelles…
Research examining the metabolic profile of SLE found increased oxidative activity, as well as lower levels of tyrosine and tryptophan, in SLE patients relative to controls, suggesting increased activity of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase. The results suggest metabolomics may have the ability to measure disease severity in SLE…
Results from a 20-year, cohort study add to the evidence that depression increases the risk of developing an autoimmune disease, specifically SLE in women. Lead investigator Andrea Roberts, PhD, says, “There may be direct biological effects of depression that increase the risk of autoimmune disease.”…
According to results of a recent study of all-cause and cause-specific mortality trends of end-stage renal disease due to lupus nephritis from 1995 to 2014, the all-cause premature mortality rate improved among white, African American and Hispanic patients, with reduced risk of death from CVD and infection. Jorge et al. observed a 32% reduction in mortality. This improved survival may be explained by a combination of improvements in the management of ESRD and of underlying SLE…
New data suggest myeloid cells in SLE patients skew B and T cell activation status toward the M1 proinflammatory phenotype, thereby directing SLE flares and remission…
A study in mice suggests that targeting peptidyl arginine deiminases in lupus patients may have a therapeutic role in T cell-mediated diseases, affecting innate and adaptive immunity, as well as modulating dysregulated toll-like receptor 7-dependent immune responses…
Patients who develop neuropsychiatric symptoms of SLE have a small nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in an intron in a Ca++ ion channel gene that influences some, but not all, events regulated by Ca++. The SNP appears to influence activation induced apoptosis rates and cytokine production, specifically IL-4, in a disease- and genotype-specific manner…