The Precipice of New Treatments

“We’re on the precipice of finding new treatments for lupus.” So says Dr. Jill Buyon, a professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine, as reported in U.S. News and World Reports Feb. 14 online edition.

Buyon is discussing the recent report, published in the Feb. 15 edition of Immunity, from Saint Louis University researchers, that suggests a pile-up of superfluous immune cells might contribute to lupus. She suggests, too, that the report supports the idea that therapeutic approaches might be possible.

In the study, researchers conducted a genetic analysis of three different types of white blood cells and discovered that, in patients with more severe lupus, there was an increase in the activity of genes that normally prevent the death of a cell, compared to the controls. The study included only 14 patients with severe lupus, along with an equal number of controls.