Researchers uncover biological rationale for why intensive lupus treatment works
July 26, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
DALLAS July 27, 2010 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered the biological rationale for why large doses of corticosteroids given repeatedly over several weeks may help individuals with lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that affects more than 1 million people in the U.S.
Genealogy may affect clinical differences in systemic lupus erythmatosus patients
Rome, Italy, Friday 18 June 2010: The effects of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) may differ based on the individual patient’s genealogical heritage, according to results of a new study presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy. In particular, the study reinforced differences in SLE phenotype found between Northern and Southern European subpopulations.
Important control mechanism behind autoimmune diseases discovered
May 3, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Contact: Katarina Sternudd
katarina.sternudd@ki.se
46-852-483-895
Karolinska Institutet
Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have discovered a new control mechanism in our immune system. The discovery is of potential significance to the treatment of serious diseases such as MS (multiple sclerosis), rheumatoid arthritis, and SLE (Systemic lupus erythematosus).
Rescue NET for lupus patients
May 2, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Contact: Arturo Zychlinsky
zychlinsky@mpiib-berlin.mpg.de
49-302-846-0300
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Lupus is a disease where the immune system attacks healthy cells of the body. This leads to progressive damage of different tissues and organs. The classical characteristic of the disease is the so-called butterfly rash in the face. Many Lupus patients eventually die of kidney failure. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin together with medical scientists from the University of Erlangen succeeded in elucidating basic principles of the disease. This opens up new perspectives for methods that might enable early diagnosis and treatment of Lupus patients with a high risk at kidney failure. (PNAS, May 3, 2010)
New therapeutic approach identified for kidney disease associated with lupus
January 24, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Contact: phyllis fisher
fisherp@hss.edu
212-606-1197
Hospital for Special Surgery
Investigators have identified a new disease mechanism and therapeutic approach for a type of advanced kidney disease that is a common cause of complications in patients with lupus. The study was led by investigators at Hospital for Special Surgery and appears in the January 25 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Genomes of identical twins reveal epigenetic changes that may play role in lupus
December 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Identical twins look the same and are nearly genetically identical, but environmental factors and the resulting cellular changes could cause disease in one sibling and not the other. In a study published online in Genome Research (www.genome.org), scientists have studied twins discordant for the autoimmune disease lupus, mapping DNA modifications across the genome and shedding light on epigenetic changes that may play a role in the disease.
Promise of a New Lupus Treatment
November 2, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced positive results from BLISS-76, the second of two large-scale phase III clinical trials of BENLYSTA(TM) (belimumab) for treating systemic lupus. A full presentation of results from BLISS-52 was recently shared at the 73rd Annual Scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. Both trials succeeded in meeting their primary endpoints, which should make BENLYSTA eligible for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Stanford study identifies cellular mechanism that causes lupuslike symptoms in mice
October 18, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Macrophages, the scavenger cells of the body’s immune system, are responsible for disposing of dying cells. Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have identified one pathway in this important process in mice that, if disrupted, causes a lupuslike autoimmune disease.
National report shines light on lupus 50-year treatment drought
October 5, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Today, The Lewin Group, a national health care consulting firm, issued recommendations on ways to overcome the barriers that have obstructed lupus drug development resulting in no new drug approval for this disease in more than 50 years – since the Eisenhower Administration. The recommendations are included in the report, “Overcoming Barriers to Drug Development in Lupus,” which is the outcome of a 9-month study commissioned by the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. (LFA). The recommendations highlight the need for a national collaborative and coordinated effort among key stakeholders, including the FDA, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers and scientists from academia, the LFA, and industry, to implement a range of initiatives that would create a path forward to develop a robust arsenal of safe, effective, and more tolerable treatments for this difficult to treat and devastating disease.
‘Multi-target’ immune therapy improves outcomes of severe lupus nephritis
July 2, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
A new treatment using a combination of drugs targeting different parts of the immune system improves the recovery rate for patients with severe lupus involving the kidneys, according to a report in the October Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
