Patients who develop neuropsychiatric symptoms of SLE have a small nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in an intron in a Ca++ ion channel gene that influences some, but not all, events regulated by Ca++. The SNP appears to influence activation induced apoptosis rates and cytokine production, specifically IL-4, in a disease- and genotype-specific manner…
Drug-naive, new-onset SLE patients, even those with inactive disease, are likely to have silent cardiac impairment, according to a new study by Guo et al. Cardiac involvement is the leading cause of death in patients with lupus, and the estimates of cardiac impairment in SLE range from 31–70%. Cardiac impairment can remain unrecognized until after autopsy. These researchers investigated the use of cardiac MRI to explore early warning signs of silent cardiac involvement in SLE and determine treatment timing…
New research underscores the possibility that interleukin (IL) 12, IL-23 or both play roles in the immunopathology of SLE. In the study, when added to standard-of-care treatment for active SLE, ustekinumab demonstrated better efficacy than placebo and had a safety profile consistent with that of ustekinumab therapy in other diseases…
New research used multidomain function assessment to better understand the physical and cognitive functioning of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. The pilot study found a high prevalence of impairment in SLE patients, similar to or exceeding the prevalence seen in the general geriatric population. Patients scored lower for lower body strength and low average for cognitive flexibility and attention…
AMSTERDAM—Clinicians who are counseling women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have the benefit of an array of new insights into factors linked with increased risk of pregnancy loss, how SLE therapies affect pregnancy and data on outcomes of children born to mothers with SLE, an expert said in a session at EULAR: the Annual European…
A recent study found that baricitinib improved symptoms of arthritis and rash in patients with active SLE, while maintaining a safety profile consistent with previous findings…
(Reuters)—AstraZeneca’s experimental drug anifrolumab failed to meet its main target in a late-stage clinical study treating patients with moderate to severe lupus, the British drugmaker said on Friday. AstraZeneca said the drug did not meet the main goal in the final-stage of one of the two clinical trials under the TULIP program, failing to show…
The early identification of endothelial dysfunction may be useful in clinical practice to prevent SLE patients from developing atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. New research evaluated the use of peripheral arterial tonometry in assessing endothelial dysfunction in patients with early SLE and no cardiovascular risk factors or disease. The results: These patients showed a high rate of endothelial dysfunction and vascular stiffness…
Clinicians and researcher are gaining tools and insights into SLE, with newly proposed classification criteria and new findings on SLE pathogenesis presented at the 2018 EULAR: Annual European Congress of Rheumatology…
Systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease that predominantly affects women and can involve virtually any organ. The authors of this study analyzed secular trends and population characteristics associated with SLE mortality. Objective: Mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are used for planning healthcare policy and allocating resources….