A recent 12-year follow-up study performed on first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) showed an increased frequency of autoantibodies such as anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) when compared to healthy controls. The study, “Autoantibodies persist in relatives to systemic lupus erythematosus patients during 12 years follow-up,” was published…
The presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in circulation may aid identify patients at risk for pulmonary hypertension (PH) and associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) among people who already have systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). So says a study, “Antiphospholipid antibodies can identify lupus patients at risk of pulmonary hypertension:…
Pfizer, the Lupus Research Alliance and Tata Consultancy have created a smartphone app that allows lupus patients to record and report fatigue and other symptoms in real time. The app’s effectiveness will be evaluated in a clinical trial expected to start at the end of this month. The study (NCT03142711) will be…
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has started a Phase 3 clinical trial of voclosporin’s ability to treat lupus nephritis, a lupus-generated condition that causes kidneys to become inflamed and eventually fail. The double-blind, placebo-controlled AURORA trial (NCT03021499) will include about 320 patients. It will determine if a combination of voclosporin and a…
Researchers at Denver’s National Jewish Health have prevented autoimmune disease in mice prone to a lupus-like illness by eliminating a protein called T-bet. This protein, which helps transform a type of white blood cell into an age-associated B-cell (ABC), may be a possible therapeutic target for treating lupus, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease…
The National Alliance for Hispanic Health is making a special effort during the current Lupus Awareness Month to increase awareness of the disease among Hispanics, including creating a Spanish-language fact sheet. “Very few Hispanics are aware of lupus, even though Hispanic women are among those with a higher prevalence of the disease,”…
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has started a Phase 3 clinical trial of voclosporin, which eliminated an inflammatory kidney condition known as lupus nephritis in more than half of patients tested in a Phase 2b trial. The complete response rate of 49 percent of the patients in the Phase 2b trial was…
Poverty and race can cast shadows over lupus patients’ health outcomes, according to two studies. One study showed a connection between poverty and worse lupus-related health problems over time. The other showed that African-American and Hispanic women with lupus have higher rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes than whites. The poverty-related…
A partnership between two U.S. medical organizations, the Directors of Health Promotion & Education (DHPE) and the Chi Eta Phi Sorority of nurses and nursing students, is raising awareness of lupus among healthcare providers by holding education sessions at all five Chi Eta Phi regional conferences. The latest regional…
The reason why kidney disease strikes a lot of people with lupus has to do with the kind of disease lupus is, according to a Texas kidney expert who was interviewed about the connection between the conditions. Lupus is an autoimmune disease. The immune system produces antibodies to counter such a…