Active clinical trials for "Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic"

Background: The immune system is the body's defense against bacteria and other harmful invaders. In people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the immune system becomes overactive and attacks healthy cells by mistake. Many people use glucocorticoids (GCs) to treat their SLE. GCs can calm down an overactive immune system by changing how the body reads genes. But GCs have side effects that can increase over time. Researchers want to learn more about how GCs work. This may help to develop new and better drugs for treating SLE without the side effects GCs have. Objective: To better understand how GCs affect the immune system in people with SLE. Eligibility: People age 18-80 with SLE. Design: Participants will be screened with a physical exam. They will have a health and medical history. They will have blood and urine tests. They will have an electrocardiogram to measure heart activity. For this, sticky pads are put on their chest, arms, and legs. Participants will have a methylprednisolone infusion for about 30 minutes. It will be given through a needle in a vein. Blood will be collected immediately before, 2 hours after, and 4 hours after the start of the infusion. Blood pressure and heart activity will be monitored. Participants will repeat some of the screening tests. Participants will be contacted twice in the week after the infusion visit. They will discuss any health problems they are having.

Systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by production of autoantibodies and the deposition of immune complexes, affecting a wide range of organs. The clinical onset of SLE derives from the interaction between genetic predisposition and environmental, immunological and hormonal factors, with a strong predilection for women of childbearing age. SLE is usually diagnosed in young women in the third decade of life and represents the leading cause of systemic disease with secondary kidney involvement. Lupus nephritis (LN) occurs in ~50% of patients with SLE and is the most common, but not the only, cause of kidney injury in SLE. LN typically develops early in the disease course, generally within the first 6 to 36 months, and may be present at initial diagnosis. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic inflammatory cytokine with regulatory roles in innate and adaptive immunity and is implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases including SLE. MIF actively participates in multiple stages of the inflammatory response, acting on cells directly and/or potentiating the effects exerted by other stimuli. MIF overcomes the inhibitory effects of glucocorticoids on TNF alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and IL-8 production. MIF is implicated in the pathogenesis of other autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Guillain Barré syndrome.

The purpose of the registry and biorepository is to provide a mechanism to store clinical data, linked biospecimens and molecular data to support the conduct of future research on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), including Lupus Nephritis (LN).

The aim of this research project is to better understand the origin and clinical significance of two lupus-specific "genetic signatures" (IFN signature and plasma cell signature) in patient subgroups with well-defined clinical characteristics. Our aim is to correlate these genetic signatures with cell activation profiles and the production of specific cytokines in different populations from whole blood and in short-term cultures of these circulating cells.

The goal of this observational study is to to assess the ocular microvascular status of SLE patients with inactive disease and without ocular involvement. The main questions it aims to answer are: the choroidal vascular status and thickness in SLE the retinal macular microvascular status and structure in SLE Participants will be assessed with Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT). Researchers will compare SLE patients with healthy controls matched for age and sex.

This is an exploratory evaluation of MRI as a reliable, sensitive, and accurate outcome measure for clinical trials in SLE arthritis. Forty patients with SLE and moderate to severe synovitis (minimum of 3 tender and 3 swollen joints in wrists and hands) will be randomized to new or increased methotrexate therapy plus a single injection of Depomedrol or a matched placebo at baseline. Methotrexate will be injected subcutaneously once per week at ascending doses. The study will evaluate a range of outcomes discernable by MRI at 3 months and 6 months after baseline. We will also compare MRI findings, clinical endpoints, and biomarker changes in patients that were treated with Depomedrol vs. matched placebo at baseline.

This study learn how easily patients can use an educational tool that will be created for patients with melanoma and pre-existing autoimmune diseases who receive or will receive immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs. Patients will be asked their opinions about the design, accessibility, and content of the tool. Researchers will use the information collected to improve the educational materials that will help patients make future decisions about their treatment.

This multi-site registry, centered at Duke University, will enroll pregnant women with autoimmune and rheumatologic diseases. The main goal of MADRA is to identify ways to improve the health of women with rheumatic diseases and their babies during pregnancy. Prior studies demonstrate the importance of increase inflammation prior to and during pregnancy on these outcomes. The future research will seek to better define these risk factors and to identify ways to may improve them.

To facilitate clinical, basic science, and translational research projects involving the study of rheumatic diseases.

SLE disease in Saudi Arabia is yet not well defined especially in a population with high consanguinity and high inbreeding coefficient . Up until now, there has been no prospective cohort study for SLE patients in Saudi Arabia. As a result, current published literature is focused on retrospective chart reviews which are subjected to many forms of bias. so the investigator proposed this prospective registry which will follow open cohort study design aiming to provide better understanding of disease presentation, course and outcomes especially if complemented by detailed immunological, molecular, genetic and microbiome data.