UCSF Study Reveals How Aging May Mitigate Lupus Symptoms: A Breakthrough in Understanding Autoimmune Disease Progression
San Francisco, CA – New research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has shed light on a surprising phenomenon: why some individuals with lupus experience a notable improvement in their condition as they age.The study,published in Science Translational Medicine,identifies specific changes in the immune system that occur with aging,possibly offering new avenues for treatment and understanding of inflammatory diseases.
For years, clinicians like Sarah Patterson, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology at UCSF, have observed that patients with lupus often navigate a challenging period during their younger and middle adult years, followed by a notable easing of symptoms. “If patients make it through those risky decades, they sometimes see a dramatic improvement,” Dr. Patterson noted.
The UCSF team, led by Dr. Patterson and senior author Chaz Langelier, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at UCSF, analyzed blood samples from individuals across the age spectrum. Their findings indicate that as people age, the activity of certain immune genes in those with lupus is downregulated. This reduction leads to lower levels of interferons and other inflammatory proteins in the body.
the study distinguished between healthy adults and those with lupus. in healthy individuals, genes and proteins associated with inflammation gradually increased over time, a process termed “inflammaging.” However, in patients with lupus, these same markers were abnormally elevated in mid-life but subsequently declined with advancing age. Dr.Langelier described this observation: “Inflammaging seemed to be reversed in the lupus patients. But it wasn’t fully reversed. The lupus patients still had a greater level of inflammatory signaling compared to healthy adults in older age.” This “reversal” aligns with Dr. Patterson’s clinical observations of patients returning to a state more akin to healthy aging.
The researchers plan to investigate whether the effectiveness of drugs that target interferons varies in lupus patients of diffrent ages. Furthermore, they aim to apply this research approach to other conditions characterized by inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis, COPD, and atherosclerosis.
Authors: The UCSF research team included Rithwik Narendra, Hoang Van Phan, Ana Almonte-loya, Emily C. Lydon, MD, Christina Love, Michiko Shimoda, PhD, Padmini deosthale, MS, Lenka Maliskova, Walter Eckalbar, PhD, Gabriela K. Fragiadakis, PhD, Jinoos Yazdany, MD, MPH, Maria Dall’Era, MD, Patricia Katz, PhD, Chun Jimmie Ye, PhD, and Marina Sirota, PhD. A comprehensive list of authors is available in the published paper.
Funding: This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 AR069616, K23AT011768, P30 AI027763), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Chan zuckerberg biohub.
