Researchers identify potential cause of Lupus?

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A group of researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has identified a protein called Blimp-1 as a likely primary cause of the adverse reaction of the immune system in lupus patients, reports Sci News.

This is interesting news as new develops are always being made about diseases.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect any major organ. It causes the immune system to lose the ability to differentiate between foreign agents and healthy tissue. According to the Lupus Foundation of America, an estimated 1.5 million Americans, and at least 5 million people worldwide, have a form of lupus.

Previous studies have shown that a polymorphism or variation in the gene PRDM1 is a risk factor for lupus.

In the new study, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Professor Betty Diamond and co-authors were looking to examine how Blimp-1, a protein that in humans is encoded by the PRDM1 gene, regulates the immune system.

“A healthy immune system is able to identify organisms that are not normally in the body and activate cells like T-cells to attack them,” Professor Diamond said.

“In the case of patients with an autoimmune disease like lupus, the immune system has started to identify healthy cells as something to target.”

“Our study found that a low level of or no Blimp-1 in a particular cell type led to an increase in the protein cathepsin S (CTSS) which caused the immune system to identify healthy cells as something to attack — particularly in females.”

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