News

Patients with Lupus More Prone to Post-operative Complications

An abstract presented during the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting 2015 in Las Vegas, revealed that patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who had undergone total hip arthroplasty (THA) were nearly five times more likely to experience post-operative complications when compared to patients with osteoarthritis. Dr. Mark P. Figgie from the Hospital…

Microbial Biofilms Connected To Autoimmune Diseases

The role of biofilms, until recently, had been studied mostly in reference to bacterial deposition, protection and antibiotic resistance acquired by groups of bacteria due to formation of these structures. However, recent studies by a group of researchers at Temple University School of Medicine (TUSM) have shown that bacterial communities…

Autoreactive B Cells Contribute Significantly to SLE

Autoimmune diseases such as acute systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have characteristically high levels of autoantibodies in afflicted patients’ serum. These antibodies are produced by antibody-secreting cells (ASCs), which are a relatively unstudied population of cells. One research group from the Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, at Emory University in…

Targeting T-cell Exhaustion As a Therapy For Lupus Patients

In a new study entitled “T-cell exhaustion, co-stimulation and clinical outcome in autoimmunity and infection” researchers discovered how T-cell exhaustion can determine the outcome of autoimmune diseases, suggesting that therapeutics targeting the underlying mechanism of T-cell exhaustion can benefit patient outcomes in diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus. The…

Genetic Variants Identified In TNF Gene of Patients with Juvenile Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

In a new study entitled “Tumor necrosis factor-alpha single nucleotide polymorphisms in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus” researchers investigated genetic variants, specifically those known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, within the gene tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), a potent pro-inflammatory cytokine that was previously suggested to play a role in juvenile…

Pregnancy For Women With Lupus Safer Than Previously Thought

Recent findings might help ease concerns for women suffering with lupus and interested in having a child. New research concluded that most women diagnosed with lupus and whose disease is not very active can go through a safe pregnancy. The results were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It has been suggested that women with…