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.”
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.

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Rates of dementia are lower in people who eat this specific diet, research shows

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Certain foods may feed the brain better than others.
New research presented this week at NUTRITION 2025, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, Florida, found that the MIND diet is particularly beneficial for cognitive health.
People who followed the MIND eating plan — which stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay — were “significantly less likely” to develop Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, according to a press release from the American Society for Nutrition.
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What is the MIND diet?
MIND is a hybrid of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), the latter of which is designed to reduce blood pressure.
The diet focuses on “brain-healthy foods” like leafy green vegetables, berries, nuts and olive oil.
“The MIND diet is unique as the first eating plan focused on foods to specifically improve and support cognitive health,” said one registered dietitian nutritionist. (iStock)
“The MIND diet is unique as the first eating plan focused on foods to specifically improve and support cognitive health,” Lauren Harris-Pincus, registered dietitian nutritionist and founder of NutritionStarringYOU.com and author of “The Everything Easy Pre-Diabetes Cookbook,” told Fox News Digital.
The plant-focused MIND diet highlights 10 types of food, including berries, leafy greens, veggies, whole grains, nuts and seeds, beans, legumes, seafood, poultry and olive oil, according to Harris-Pincus, who was not involved in the research.
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“These focus foods contain nutrients that play a critical role in supporting brain health, including flavonoids, carotenoids, B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids (especially DHA), choline, and minerals like magnesium, potassium and calcium,” she said.
“The diet also suggests limiting foods such as pastries, refined sugar, red meat, cheese, fried foods, fast food, and butter or margarine.”
MIND’s impact on brain health
Researchers from the University of Hawaii analyzed data from nearly 93,000 U.S. adults who reported their dietary habits during the 1990s as part of the Multiethnic Cohort Study.
At the start of the study, participants ranged in age from 45 to 75.
“The MIND diet is unique as the first eating plan focused on foods to specifically improve and support cognitive health.”
In analyzing which participants developed Alzheimer’s or other dementias in later years, the MIND eating plan performed better than other healthy diets in terms of reducing dementia risk, with benefits seen among both younger and older groups.
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Those who followed the diet were shown to have an overall 9% reduced risk of dementia, and some groups — African American, Latino and White participants — showed a 13% lower risk.
Asian-Americans and native Hawaiians did not show as pronounced of a risk reduction.

Those who followed the plan over a 10-year period had a 25% lower risk compared to those who didn’t stick with it. (iStock)
The longer people adhered to the diet, the greater the reduction of risk. Those who followed the plan over a 10-year period had a 25% lower risk compared to those who didn’t stick with it.
“Our study findings confirm that healthy dietary patterns in mid to late life and their improvement over time may prevent Alzheimer’s and related dementias,” said Song-Yi Park, PhD, associate professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, in the release.
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“This suggests that it is never too late to adopt a healthy diet to prevent dementia.”
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