The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) recently announced that Chinese investigators are going to test a new drug agent for treating lupus in upcoming clinical trials. The compound called SM934, is a water-soluble artemisinin derivative that has already been approved by the China Food and Drug Administration. According to the CAS, over the last…
A recent study published in the journal Cell Transplantation revealed encouraging data on animal models for stem cell transplantation as a therapy for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study was led by researchers at the Hanyang University in Korea and is entitled “Infusion of human bone…
Results from a clinical trial conducted by a team at Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset demonstrate that vitamin D supplementation does not diminish the interferon (IFN) signature of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. The authors attribute the lack of a response to the short time frame of treatment…
Seattle Genetics, Inc., a biotechnology company that specializes in the development and commercialization of novel antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer, has officially begun a Phase II clinical study designed to test ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) as a treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This drug candidate is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that…
Pediatric Rheumatology Fellow at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, Dr. Tamar Rubinstein, recently received the Lupus Foundation of America’s third yearly Career Development Award. “Now, more than ever, it is essential that young, energetic investigators receive funding for vital lupus research,” said…
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…
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…
In a recent study entitled “Autoimmune Disease in First-Degree Relatives and Spouses of Individuals With Celiac Disease” researchers show that first-degree relatives and spouses of individuals with celiac disease have an increased risk of suffering from other type of autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus. The study…
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…
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…