Health
Experimental lupus therapy could be ‘life-changing’ for patients with autoimmune disease, study finds
Australian researchers may have found a breakthrough treatment for lupus.
In a study published in Nature Communications on Feb. 6, scientists at Monash University revealed that they were able to “fix” defective cells that can cause lupus, an autoimmune disease.
They accomplished this by infusing human cells — called regulatory T cells — harvested from healthy people, which then triggered a protective mechanism that helps to prevent autoimmunity, according to a press release from the university.
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People who develop lupus and other autoimmune disorders lack these special T cells.
“We’ve figured out a way to fix a defect that causes lupus,” Peter Eggenhuizen, a research fellow at Monash University and co-first author of the study, told Fox News Digital.
Common symptoms of lupus include joint pain, extreme fatigue, joint pain or a butterfly rash. (iStock)
“We achieved this by engineering patient cells with protective molecules from healthy people. In preclinical models, this halted lupus kidney disease progression.”
The research was performed in both test tubes and in mouse models.
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The researchers were surprised to discover that the infused patient cells,enhanced with protective molecules, suppressed lupus without the need for toxic immunosuppressant drugs.
“New technologies using T regulatory cells as therapy for lupus and other autoimmune conditions are emerging and herald a new generation of personalized medicine,” Eggenhuizen said.
An experimental therapy was able to “completely arrest” the development of lupus kidney disease without using potentially harmful immunosuppressant drugs, said researchers (not pictured). (iStock)
Co-senior author Joshua Ooi, an associate professor who heads Monash University’s Regulatory T Cell Therapies Group at Monash Health, said the new therapy was able to “completely arrest” the development of lupus kidney disease.
“It’s like a reset of the abnormal immune system back to a healthy state — kind of like a major software upgrade,” Ooi said in the press release.
“That it uses the patient’s own cells is a very special part of this.”
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Beyond treating lupus, the researchers hope that the targeted T regulatory cell therapy can be used eventually as a therapy for over 100 other autoimmune conditions, including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
Although these initial findings are promising, the researcher emphasized that this work is at the pre-clinical stage.
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that impacts some 1.5 million people in the U.S. (iStock)
“Two years of additional research and development is required before the first human clinical trials can commence,” he said.
Human clinical trials are expected to start in 2026 to determine the viability of the experimental treatment method.
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Dr. Emily Littlejohn, a rheumatologist and lupus expert from Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, was not involved in the clinical studies but said the proposed treatment looks “promising” as a possible therapy for certain lupus patients.
“This Australian group from Monash University was able to halt the progression of lupus nephritis in a lupus mouse model,” she told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“Lupus nephritis is one of the most devastating manifestations of systemic lupus, and this therapy could prove to be life-changing for many of our patients.”
Lupus is more common among women between 15 and 44 years of age and people who are African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, or Pacific Islander, according to the Lupus Foundation. (iStock)
Because this study was done in vitro and in lupus nephritis mouse models, Littlejohn noted that it’s very difficult to make presumptions about how this therapy will perform in humans with lupus.
“It will be interesting to see how this treatment translates in clinical trials using human patients,” she added.
Current treatments for lupus include disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, or DMARDs, in addition to biologic agents, which are immunosuppressive therapies in either tablet, injection or infusion form, Littlejohn noted.
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“While these drugs have proven to be useful to treat and prevent progression of lupus, we still do not have ample success rates in treating patients with lupus nephritis,” she said. “We are looking forward to the up-and-coming drug trials that are ongoing in this space for treatment of different forms of systemic lupus.”
What to know about lupus
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue in the body, which causes inflammation and pain in the body, according to the Lupus Foundation of America’s website.
The disease most often affects the joints, skin and major organs, such as the kidneys and heart.
Common symptoms include joint pain, extreme fatigue, joint pain or a butterfly rash.
The disease most often affects the joints, skin and major organs, such as the kidneys and heart. (iStock)
There are four different types of lupus, as detailed on the foundation’s website.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common form, affects multiple organs or organ systems.
Cutaneous lupus only affects the skin, while drug-induced lupus is triggered by specific prescription drugs.
Neonatal lupus is a rare condition that is passed from a pregnant woman to her infant.
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Lupus can run in families, and it’s also more common among women between 15 and 44 years of age and people who are African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, or Pacific Islander, according to the same foundation.
The disease affects approximately 1.5 million people in the U.S.
Although these initial findings are promising, the researcher emphasized that this work is at the pre-clinical stage. (iStock)
“Systemic lupus is a life-threatening and difficult-to-treat disease,” said Littlejohn.
“Given the variety of manifestations of this disease and the wide range of clinical symptoms, having more treatment options will only help improve disease outcomes and quality of life in these patients.”
With dozens of new drugs in various stages of clinical trial, Littlejohn said this is an “exciting time” for drug development in systemic lupus.
“The ongoing scientific work and treatment development breakthroughs, such as the one put forth in this article, are wonderful to see.”
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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