Southampton scientists awarded major grant by arthritis charity
SCIENTISTS in Southampton have been awarded a major grant of £116,112 by leading medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign for their work into the rheumatic disease, lupus.
A team led by Professor Freda Stevenson and Dr Kathleen Potter in the Molecular Immunology Group in Southampton University's Tenovus Laboratory, will spend the next three years investigating the production of disease-causing antibodies in patients with lupus.
Around 15,000 people suffer from lupus (also known as systemic lupus erythematosus) in the UK, mainly women of childbearing age.
Although it is a little-known condition, lupus can be extremely serious, and can destroy joints, damage muscles, cause kidney failure, and lead to miscarriage.
Lupus is an incurable disease of the immune system, which is caused when the body's defence mechanism goes into overdrive and starts to attack itself. Thanks to better management, most cases of lupus can be controlled through drug therapy, but the causes remain unknown.
"Scientists have made major advances in understanding the immunology and molecular biology of the antibodies associated with lupus," said consultant rheumatologist Professor David Isenberg, at University College, London, who is collaborating with the Southampton team on their research project.
The current ARC-funded research will advance existing research knowledge and possibly lead to new understanding of the cellular defect in patients with lupus.
"We believe that the release of certain cells known as receptor edited antibody-producing cells into the blood of lupus patients may be characteristic of the disease, and may contribute to its cause," explained Dr Potter. "We propose to establish this as a fact by examining blood from people with lupus and from healthy people. We also want to find out why the body doesn't get rid of these cells in lupus patients, allowing so many to build up."
The ARC is the fifth biggest medical research charity in the UK, and exists to find the cause of and cure for arthritis and all forms of rheumatic disease. Last year it raised more than £23m entirely from public donations.
