A Milestone Discovery in Science: Scientists Identify the Real Cause of Lupus

North Western Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital Scientists have discovered a molecular pathologic pathway defect that promotes the pathologic immune response in systemic lupus erythematosus and it shows reversing this defect may potentially reverse the disease.

The Lupus patients suffer from the worse condition as the autoimmune disease affects the body conditions badly. All over the globe, an estimated 5 million people got caught up with the global disease. Every year only in USA 16,000 new cases are discovered in the USA alone.

What is Lupus disease and How it affects Your Body?

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease. In this disease, the autoimmune system of the body mistakenly affects the healthy tissue. It can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brains, and other organs.

The causes of SLE are not clearly known. It may be linked to the following factors:

• Genetic
• Environmental
• Hormonal
• Certain Medicines

The existing treatments often fail to control this disease and it has unintended side effects of reducing the immune system's ability to fight infections.

What Biological Pathways Can Lead to The Lupus Disease?

Scientists from the Northwestern Medicine Dermatologist identify a real cause of imbalance in the pathway that led to the Lupus disease.

They have identified a fundamental imbalance in the immune response that patients with Lupus disease.

Deepak Rao MD, PhD of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and rheumatologist at Northwestern Brigham and Women’s Hospital said that the scientists identified a new pathway that drives disease in Lupus. Scientists have observed in Lupus patients the disease-associated molecules in the blood samples. 

In the study, the scientists reported a new pathway that when affected becomes the major factor of lupus.  When the patients have disease-associated molecules they affect the Aryl hydrocarbon pathway (AHR) which regulates cell response to environmental pollutants, bacteria, or metabolites. Inactivation of these pathways results in too many disease-promoting immune cells called the peripheral T helper cells, that promote the production of disease-causing auto-antibodies.

Scientists are now trying to activate the AHR pathways via small activator molecules or we can limit the excessive interferon in the blood and reduce the disease-causing cells.

Conclusion 

Lupus is become a life-threatening disease in the USA. Every year approximately 16,000 patients are affected by Lupus. This breakthrough discovery allows scientists to invent molecules that target the specific receptors AHR which is the main cause of disease. Previously patients were given immunosuppressant medication to suppress the symptoms.