Patients with more severe damage caused by systemic lupus erythematosus spend four times as much on healthcare than those with the lowest levels of lupus damage, Canadian researchers said at a recent scientific meeting. The findings underscore the importance of using more effective therapies in early disease stages, lowering costs…
Good gut bacteria from yogurt may be able to reduce kidney inflammation in systemic lupus erythematosus patients — if results of a mouse study can be translated to humans, that is. Mice with lupus who ate lactobacillus bacteria had stronger anti-inflammatory immune reactions and less kidney disease than control mice, according…
Good gut bacteria might prevent disease processes leading to heart disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a mice study that appeared in the journal PLOS ONE. The findings add to the growing insight that gut bacteria play a key role in controlling the immune system, which…
A tool for measuring patient-reported outcomes, called PROMIS-29, performed rather well in a study attempting to validate the approach in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and other rheumatic conditions. But the researchers’ endorsement of the tool was cautious, as they detected that most patients tended to score at the worse…
TxCell will do two presentations in Boston on its use of computer simulations to pack the most punch into the gene therapy it has developed against the kidney disease lupus nephritis and other autoimmune disorders. The immunotherapy approach involves engineering patients’ own regulatory T-cells, or CAR-Tregs, to ward off the diseases. The…
Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have an increased risk for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases — a risk that they share with patients who have other chronic inflammatory conditions, according to a study published in the journal Heart. Those taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or corticosteroids appeared to have a particularly…
Neovacs’ Phase 2b clinical trial of an interferon immunotherapy for lupus is going according to plan, the company announced after an independent review board declined to recommend modifications to the study. The trial is evaluating interferon (IFN)-alpha kinoid immunotherapy as a treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus. One hundred seventy-eight patients with moderate…
An ongoing online survey to examine the distribution of blood types among lupus patients could provide important information about why people develop the disease, researchers say. The survey is a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Scleroderma Education Project. The two groups have already conducted a similar survey among…
Neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with systemic lupus erythematosus may be caused by increased levels of the inflammatory molecule interferon-alpha in their brains, according to a study published in the journal Nature. But a treatment now in clinical trials may be able to arrest the processes that lead to those symptoms. The…
A Phase 2a trial (NCT02185040) evaluating Celgene International‘s CC-220 in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) reports promising results, according to data presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) 2017, held June 14-17 in Madrid. “While the outlook for patients with lupus has improved over the last 75 years, treatment…