May 13, 2003

      Two variant forms of a gene that promotes the formation of nitric oxide, a molecule involved in blood vessel dynamics and nerve transmission, may be a risk factor for lupus in African American women. This is according to research supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

      A study conducted by the Medical University of South Carolina Gary Gilkeson, M.D., and his colleagues showed that the two different gene forms occurred much more frequently among female African American lupus patients than among controls matched for age, sex, and race. These same gene forms have been associated with improved outcomes in some African patients with malaria. The researchers chose to investigate them based on a hypothesis that genetic traits which benefit those living in Africa may have the opposite effect on North American residents.

      Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or lupus, a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune disease that mainly affects women of childbearing age, is three times more common and is frequently more severe in African American women than in Caucasian women.

      Source: NIAMS, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, May 13, 2003