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Levels of certain antibodies are significantly associated with particular clinical characteristics of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and could be used to assess disease activity in patients, a study finds. The study, “Antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens (ENAS) in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: correlations with clinical manifestations and disease…

IFN-alpha Kinoid, an investigational vaccine by Neovacs, has a favorable safety profile and showed encouraging signs of effectiveness in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, according to results from a Phase 2b clinical trial.  While the vaccine candidate failed to meet the trial’s primary objective — an improvement…

The Lupus Research Alliance awarded Novel Research Grants to two University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers who will use the funds to explore potential targeted treatments for lupus. Besides UAB’s Andre Ballesteros-Tato, PhD, and Frances Lund, PhD, seven other researchers in the U.S. were awarded…

The relationship between emotional health and work/regular activities of daily living is influenced by the use of corticosteroids in women with systemic lupus erythematosus, a new study shows. The study, “Cultural and quality-of-life considerations when administering corticosteroids as a therapeutic strategy for African American women living with systemic lupus…

Products derived from activating the complement pathway — a well-established player in the development of lupus — may server as a marker of disease activity and improve the monitoring of patients, a study reports. Researchers showed that EC4d, a product of the complement pathway bound to red blood cells, correlates…

Rigel Pharmaceuticals is starting a Phase 1 study in healthy people to assess R835, a potential treatment for lupus and other autoimmune diseases. The study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (how a drug move inside the body) and pharmacodynamics (how the body affects a drug) of R835 in both single-ascending and…

More than one-third of German patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) did not get vaccinated, largely due to fear of developing a lupus flare or negative side effects related to the vaccines, a new study shows. The study, “Vaccination coverage in systemic lupus erythematosus—a cross-sectional analysis of the German…

Researchers found that controlling the activity of Tbet, the main transcription factor of inflammatory T-cells, reduces kidney inflammation and tissue damage in mice prone to develop lupus. The study, “Intranuclear delivery of the transcription modulation domain of Tbet-improved lupus nephritis in (NZB/NZW) F1 lupus-prone mice,” was…

Pain disturbs sleep and can augment depression, two factors that directly impact cognition in people with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a study that looked into how pain relates to cognitive health in SLE patients. Its researchers recommended that patients with depression or sleep problems be treated, preferably using non-pharmacologic approaches,…

Baricitinib, a medicine approved in the U.S., Europe and Japan for rheumatoid arthritis, significantly improved the clinical outcomes of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients compared with a placebo, Eli Lilly and Company revealed. The results from the Phase 2 trial (NCT02708095) were presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2018) June…