The Lupus Research Institute has given formal recognition to recent, unprecedented and ongoing scientific advancements aimed to prevent complications of lupus, uncover fundamental causes, and advance toward new treatments and a cure.
The esteemed Kenneth Smith, MD, PhD, of the University of Cambridge is among the recipients of the Distinguished Innovator Award for delivering pioneering scientific break-troughs toward uncovering fundamental causes and initiating advancements toward new treatments and a cure for systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE.
Dr. Smith's research into the Transcriptional Prediction of Outcome in SLE" was recently published in the professional journal Nature, describing outstanding results uncovered by himself and co-investigator Dr. Eoin Mckinney.
The research team's unprecedented discovery, in a nutshell, encompasses the finding that the more tired CD8 T cells become, the less energy they have to attack the body. The exhausted T cell immune response, known to increase poor outcomes in certain viral infections -- is now shown to produce just the opposite effect in inflammatory autoimmune disease, namely less severe disease progression with fewer relapses".
Dr. Smith explains what this historic development may mean for lupus patients, We have discovered that lupus patients who develop more severe disease have a distinctive pattern of genes turned on in their white blood cells." Dr. Smith added that his group will continue to investigate whether this gene pattern can be used as a practical test for long-term lupus prognosis he is also optimistic that such a predictive test would allow for safer and more effective personalized treatment strategies."
Lupus behaves differently from person to person" Dr. Smith continued, explaining that like other autoimmune diseases, some patients endure an aggressive course while other may have a more benign disease.
Currently there is no way to predict the path the disease will take, which is a major problem for patients and healthcare professionals because the treatment is essentially blind" and those who need intensive therapy may not receive it early enough -- yet those who don't need an increased level of treatment may be unnecessarily exposed to excessive and damaging side-effects. The poorly targeted therapy is also financially inefficient.
This pioneering research builds on other major advancements using genomic technology to measure the genes turned on in blood while cells in patients with lupus -- which advanced analysis has recently led to the discovery of a biomarker that predicts outcomes for lupus, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and vasculitis. Now the team will continue to investigate utilizing this new discovery.
The goal is to minimize medication side effects, lessen organ damage, and slow down lupus progression. We believe the clinical implication of this study could be profound. A test based on the concept could be profound we are exploring new treatments for autoimmunity based on manipulating T cell exhaustion", explained Dr. Smith.
Learn more about the function of the immune system and its role in SLE, including the latest advancements in research, and treatment at http://www.fucoidanextract.com/fucoidan-and-lupus