Early Study Findings Signal the Way toward Improved Diagnosis and Treatment of Lupus Nephritis
The Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) Lupus Network announced the successful completion of its Phase 1 studies, which have resulted in several promising findings related to lupus nephritis (LN) diagnosis and treatment. First, the studies have yielded an optimized set of protocols for state-of-the-art analysis of renal (kidney) tissue, urine and blood. Researchers suggest it may eventually be possible to use these types of non-invasive cell collections to better study and understand renal disease. Additionally, the findings have revealed new inflammatory renal (kidney) cell populations and their origins and have begun to identify possible biomarkers for disease response.
The Lupus Foundation of America is a proud partner of the AMP program. AMP is currently focused on unlocking the mysteries of how lupus affects the kidneys and the skin, working to improve the understanding of how LN develops by applying new technologies to the analysis of renal tissue, blood, and urine in order to find new targets for drug development and improve diagnosis.
LN is a serious complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that affects nearly 60% of people with SLE. However, timely diagnosis remains challenging and current treatment options are lacking. These initial results set the stage for Phase 2 analysis and are exciting early steps toward the comprehensive and effective, high-resolution analysis of tissue and immune cells in LN, which are critically needed to identify new drugs and disease biomarkers. Learn about how lupus affects the kidney system.