Key proteins linked to pregnancy loss in lupus

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Key proteins linked to pregnancy loss in lupus

By Rauscher

NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters Health) - Studies in mice suggest that a group of

proteins called complement proteins, which play a major role in the

inflammatory process, may be a key factor in miscarriages that occur in some

young women with lupus and others with immune system disorders.

Understanding pregnancy loss in lupus patients may potentially lead to a

better understanding of and possibly treatments for unexplained pregnancy

loss in women in the general population.

Dr. Jane Salmon of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York presented

her team's findings at a meeting here Monday sponsored by the Alliance for

Lupus Research.

Lupus is an autoimmune disorder, meaning it occurs when a person's immune

system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissue. It is characterized by

inflammation and damage to tissue and organs throughout the body, including

the joints, skin, heart, kidney and central nervous system.

In lupus patients with a particular class of self-antibodies called

antiphospholipid antibodies, there is a " fairly high rate " of pregnancy loss

and the mechanism of that pregnancy loss is not particularly clear, Salmon

said in telephone interview with Reuters Health. This condition, called

antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, is also found in people with other types

of autoimmune disease.

In a mouse model of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, Salmon's team

discovered that treatment with a complement inhibitor guarded against

pregnancy loss. " When you knock out complement in these mice, they are

protected from pregnancy loss, " she said.

This shows that activation of complement proteins are " required in pregnancy

complications, " in mice with the antiphospholipid syndrome, Salmon told

Reuters Health. This finding, she said, " opens an entirely new area of

potential therapeutic targets " in preventing pregnancy loss in these

patients.

The next step in mice is to try to pinpoint the target in terms of

complement activation. " There are many proteins involved in this pathway and

all we know is that the pathway is activated. We don't know which protein in

the pathway is the critical molecule, " she said.

Salmon is also proposing a multicenter North American study in healthy

patients, lupus patients and antiphospholipid patients that would track them

through their pregnancies.

" We would measure complement components all the way through their

pregnancies to try to see if we can pick up complement activation, " she

said. " Not everyone has pregnancy problems, but we are looking for a

surrogate predictor of poor outcome. Once we can figure out in advance who

is likely to have a poor outcome then we can do an interventional trial with

complement inhibitors. "

Salmon's research is supported by a grant from the Alliance for Lupus

Research.

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