In an effort to understand the origin of systemic lupus erythematosus and why some patients present with more severe disease than others, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have identified a type of autoantibody that may worsen the condition and have also found how these autoantibodies originate (Anti-DNA antibodies are a hallmark of patients with SLE.).

Previously, researchers could not pinpoint why the severity of SLE is so varied among patients who have a type of antibody that attacks DNA, known as anti-DNA antibodies. They say their findings have implications for biomarker testing in lupus and may help identify patients that need early and aggressive treatment.

“This research may be the closest we’ve come to uncovering the root cause of anti-DNA antibodies,” adds Eduardo Gómez-Bañuelos, M.D., Ph.D, instructor of medicine Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, who is the first author in the manuscript.

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