Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has approved Benlysta (belimumab) as an add-on therapy to treat adult patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who cannot receive or don’t respond to existing therapies. The drug, developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), will be available in two formulations, given via intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SC)…
U.K. researchers are establishing a national consortium with a grant of £1.7 million (British pounds) from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to create the world’s largest Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease (IMID) Biobank, with more than 40,000 patients. The IMIDBio-UK consortium will incorporate different biobanks and clinical datasets into one single,…
Good gut bacteria might prevent disease processes leading to heart disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a mice study that appeared in the journal PLOS ONE. The findings add to the growing insight that gut bacteria play a key role in controlling the immune system, which…
Daily moderate exercise suppresses lupus-associated kidney inflammation while social stress worsens it, researchers at Ohio State University have found. Their study, “Daily Moderate Exercise Is Beneficial and Social Stress Is Detrimental to Disease Pathology in Murine Lupus Nephritis,” appeared in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.
The lectin pathway of the complement system — a system that enhances the body’s ability to clear invaders — may underlie the clinical manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), new research suggests. The study “Mannose-binding lectin serum levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: association with thrombocytopaenia…
Women who experience trauma or have post-traumatic stress disorder are at higher risk of developing systemic lupus erythematosus, a study suggests. The research, which appeared in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology, was titled “Association of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder with incident systemic lupus erythematosus…
A tool for measuring patient-reported outcomes, called PROMIS-29, performed rather well in a study attempting to validate the approach in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and other rheumatic conditions. But the researchers’ endorsement of the tool was cautious, as they detected that most patients tended to score at the worse…
Certain autoantibodies may help identify the small group of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at risk of developing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and those who are at lower risk of death, according to the findings of a retrospective French study. The research, “Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated…
Newly published findings from two population-based registries in New York City and San Francisco have shed light on racial disparities in the prevalence of lupus in the United States. Data from the Manhattan Lupus Surveillance Program first showed that lupus is more prevalent among Hispanic and Asian women in…
The protein OX40L, produced by immune B-cells, plays a key role in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by activating a T-cell subset involved in autoimmunity, new research has found. Inhibition of OX40L B-cells improved lupus symptoms in mice, suggesting that OX40L is a promising new target for lupus treatment. The…