Lupus

A protein known as granzyme K was recently shown to be a driver of inflammation by activating the complement system in human tissue, a discovery that could reshape the treatment of many rheumatic and autoimmune diseases.

A risk prediction score that uses machine learning and a patient’s genetic information may identify autoimmune conditions up to 1,000% more accurately than current models, according to findings published in Nature Communications.

Pericarditis recurrence in lupus is more likely — and has a dose-dependent relationship — with oral prednisone treatment, though overall it is lower than in the general population, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.

More than one-third of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus experience a flare after starting dialysis for end-stage renal disease, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Learning from 2 decades of off-label rituximab use in systemic lupus erythematosus may point the way toward developing “new and improved” B-cell depleting agents for patients with the disease, according to researchers.

Although chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy has delivered previously unthinkable remission outcomes to patients with lupus and other rheumatic diseases, the cells currently in use remain “old fashioned,” according to a speaker.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy improves not only lupus disease activity but also other related conditions that impact quality of life, according to a speaker at the Basic and Clinical Immunology for the Busy Clinician symposium.

Black patients, particularly women, have died from systemic lupus erythematosus at disproportionately higher rates despite overall declines in mortality over the past 20 years, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.