Emily Chan
Despite significant advances in medical research, the origins of many illnesses, such as lupus, remain shrouded in mystery.
In the United States, lupus affects more than 1.5 million people. It is a chronic autoimmune disease that takes place when the immune system attacks healthy organs and tissue.
Symptoms can come and go, ranging from mild to severe. Lupus can strike at various parts of the body, including the heart, skin, kidneys, joints, lungs, brain, and blood cells.
It can also result in life-threatening damage to multiple organs. So far, existing treatments have often failed to control the disease and are accompanied by harmful side effects.
Until now, scientists have been unsure of what contributed to the development of lupus. Researchers from Northwestern Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have made a major breakthrough. They discovered a root cause of lupus and a way to possibly reverse the disease.
“Up until this point, all therapy for lupus is a blunt instrument. It’s broad immunosuppression,” said Jaehyuk Choi, a co-author of the study, an associate professor of dermatology, and a dermatologist at Northwestern Medicine.
“By identifying a cause for this disease, we have found a potential cure that will not have the side effects of current therapies.”
The study authors determined that a molecular defect in the blood leads to lupus. Changes associated with the disease were found in multiple molecules in the blood of people with lupus. The changes resulted in insufficient activation of a pathway that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) controls.
The AHR regulates how cells respond to bacteria, metabolites, and environmental pollutants. When the AHR experiences insufficient activation, too many disease-promoting cells called T peripheral helper cells are produced. These T cells will then attack healthy cells.
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