Lupus: puzzle begins to unravel… and 43 areas of DNA are involved

A total of 43 different areas of DNA contain genetic risk factors that increase the chance of developing systemic lupus erythematosus, scientists outline in Nature Genetics.

Lupus is a severe autoimmune disease that is more common than leukaemia and multiple sclerosis. Currently incurable, the disease affects about 24,700 people in the UK and is believed to be genetic in origin.

At its most serious, it can affect the brain, kidneys or heart.

Now that experts have worked out that 43 different areas of DNA are involved, genetic tests should play an important part in determining which treatments are best for any one person.

And offering a combination of treatments will therefore always be required as it is unlikely that any single drug will be completely effective in treating everyone with the disease.

“Lupus is a very complex disease with a wide spectrum of symptoms but this study has given us a much better idea about which genetic variations increase the risk of developing lupus and the likely effects of these variations,” explains Prof Tim Vyse who is involved in the work. “Despite the progress that we’ve made there are still a lot of genetic variants that need to be studied further to bring us close to solving the genetic puzzle of lupus.

“Next, we need to expand the genetic studies to include results from studies in non-Europeans. This is particularly important in lupus because it is more common in non-European populations compared with Europeans.

“We also want to gain more understanding of the effect and the consequences of inheriting different genetic variants that predispose to disease. Such studies will reveal more about what goes wrong in the immune system of those people with this disease.”

Image credit: Raymond Bryson