NIAID's Role in Lupus Research
NIAID-supported research on autoimmune diseases, including lupus, focuses on: developing a greater understanding of the fundamental biologic principles underlying disease onset and progression; developing improved animal and in vitro models of disease; devising improved diagnostic tools; creating more effective interventions and preventive strategies; and identifying the epidemiologic profiles of autoimmune diseases.
NIAID-supported studies have used cutting-edge technologies to perform genetic analyses comparing large cohorts of individuals with autoimmune diseases to healthy control subjects. These studies have revealed new genetic risk factors for individual autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as gene variants that predispose an individual to more than one autoimmune disease. Recently, researchers found three new genetic loci for SLE.