Treatment with upadacitinib led to a significant reduction in disease activity for people with moderate-to-severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a Phase 2 clinical trial, according to top-line results announced by its developer, AbbVie. Based on these positive results, AbbVie now is planning to advance upadacitinib to Phase 3 clinical…
A type of anti-DNA autoantibodies that also block an enzyme called DNase1L3 may cause more harm to people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) than those that only bind to genetic material, a study has found. These results, the researchers say, shed new light on the origin of SLE, the…
Progentec Diagnostics has partnered with GSK to launch PROACTIVE, a study to identify people at risk of developing lupus. The study seeks to help with the early detection and diagnosis of lupus, which is critical for its effective treatment and management. Participants will be guided through…
Organ damage is associated with a 1.49-times higher odds of having severe cognitive dysfunction in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a new study reports. Organ damage was also associated with worse performance in multiple neuropsychological domains, such as working memory, processing speed, and complex attention. By contrast, the…
Blood levels of an immune system protein called sBCMA were found elevated in untreated children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared with treated patients and healthy children in China. That’s according to a recent study, which also found that sBCMA levels declined after treatment. Higher levels of the…
An enzyme called fumarate hydratase is involved in the control of the inflammatory activity of macrophages, a type of immune cell with a central role in driving inflammatory disorders like lupus, researchers report. “No-one has made a link from Fumarate Hydratase to inflammatory macrophages before and we feel that…
People who are positive for two types of autoantibodies at the time of their systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) diagnosis have a higher risk of disease flares, a new study reports. Compared with people who were negative, those positive for autoantibodies against double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and the Smith protein (Sm)…
A failure of tingible body macrophages (TBMs), a type of immune cell tasked with cleaning up its environment, might play a role in the development of autoimmune diseases like lupus, according to a recent study. These cells have long been poorly understood due to technical challenges in identifying them…
A middle dose of rezpegaldesleukin, an experimental medicine being developed by Nektar Therapeutics, led to clinically meaningful gains in measures of disease activity in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). That’s according to top-line data from ISLAND (NCT04433585), a Phase 2 clinical study that evaluated how safe…
The activity of a class of immune signaling proteins known as type I interferons — called IFN-1 — was markedly high in the bloodstream of people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) before treatment, a study reported. Such elevated IFN-1 activity was not seen in patients with various other autoimmune…