Serologic features of cohorts with variable genetic risk for systemic lupus erythematosus
Jyotsna Bhattacharya, Karalyn Pappas, Bahtiyar Toz, Cynthia Aranow, Meggan Mackay, Peter K. Gregersen, Ogobara Doumbo, Abdel Kader Traore, Martin L. Lesser, Maureen McMahon, Tammy Utset, Earl Silverman, Deborah Levy, William J. McCune, Meenakshi Jolly, Daniel Wallace, Michael Weisman, Juanita Romero-Diaz and Betty DiamondEmail author
Molecular Medicine201824:24
doi.org/10.1186/s10020-018-... The Author(s) 2018
Received: 2 April 2018Accepted: 3 April 2018Published: 1 June 2018
Abstract
Background
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences. In Western Europe and North America, individuals of West African descent have a 3–4 fold greater incidence of SLE than Caucasians. Paradoxically, West Africans in sub-Saharan Africa appear to have a low incidence of SLE, and some studies suggest a milder disease with less nephritis. In this study, we analyzed sera from African American female SLE patients and four other cohorts, one with SLE and others with varying degrees of risk for SLE in order to identify serologic factors that might correlate with risk of or protection against SLE.
