The Strategic Pharma-Academic Research Consortium for Translational Medicine (SPARC) is going to provide more than $1.9 million to support studies on autoimmune diseases. The grant will be given to medical research universities located in the Midwest. The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute leads SPARC, and the investigations will focuse…
Researchers at the Center for Clinical and Translational Science, Ohio State University developed the first chimeric mouse model to study Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder. Notably, this new mouse model will also allow researchers to study the human characteristics of other autoimmune diseases,…
A clinical trial study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and led by Dr. David Wofsy at University of California, San Francisco and Dr. Betty Diamond at Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, New York, assessed the efficacy…
Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the completion of its Phase 3 trial (CHABLIS-SC1), which evaluated the effect of blisibimod in patients suffering with systemic lupus erythematosus. The CHABLIS-SC1 study was evaluated by an independent statistician to assess the SRI-6 response 24 weeks after the beginning of the…
Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System recently published a study revealing that exposure to mercury through seafood is a key risk factor for the development of autoimmunity among women of reproductive age. The study entitled “Mercury Exposure and Antinuclear Antibodies among Females…
Taiwanese researchers recently published a study in the journal Rheumatology demonstrating that the drug hydroxychloroquine is effective in reducing the risk of diabetes mellitus in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study is entitled “Hydroxychloroquine reduces risk of incident diabetes mellitus in lupus…
Findings from a recent study in mice suggest that neonatal colonization of gut microbiota influences generalized autoimmunity in adult life, which may have implications for conditions such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Researchers from Ghent University Hospital in Belgium found that upon increased levels of segmented filamentous bacteria, an alteration in…
A recently published study in the new issue of Science by a team of investigators from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSMC), is leading to a better understanding of the innate immune system, which plays an integral role in the development of abnormal…
In a new study entitled “Inflammation-Induced IL-6 Functions as a Natural Brake on Macrophages and Limits GN,” researchers discovered a key pathway that protects healthy tissue against an exacerbated and deleterious immune response. The study was published in the Journal of the American…
A research team from the University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf in Germany recently discovered an important pathway that may protect healthy tissue from immune responses. These findings can potentially help doctors provide better treatments for patients with autoimmune conditions such as Lupus. The immune system responds to inflammation by over-activation in…