A new tool in the fight against autoimmune disease lupus

There is a new way to detect lupus before it causes more significant damage.

LuGENE, a new blood test by AMPEL BioSolutions, helps forecast flare-ups and recognizes targets for effective drug options based on genomic data it reveals.

“Lupus is an autoimmune disease,” said Dr. Amrie Grammer of AMPEL BioSolutions. “This means that your body gets confused and is attacking our own organs. That is the heart of how the disease starts and it’s why it is so serious.”

According to Lupus.org, women develop lupus much more often than men and nine of every 10 people with lupus are women. Of those women, three times as many are Black and as many as 1-in-250 Black women will develop the disease. More than 90% of patients have at least one flare-up a year and two-thirds have multiple flare-ups.

“Lupus often doesn’t emerge until after puberty,” Grammer said. “[Sometimes] lupus happens earlier with much more intensity, and we see that women of color and of African American ancestry commonly are affected.”

LuGENE is now commercially available and many medical sites around the country — including here in Charlotte — have the blood test.

“What LuGENE provides doctors and patients is letting them know if an unexpected change in their disease, often called a flare-up, is expected,” Grammer said. “It provides them a yes or no as to if a flare up is expected. If the answer is no, then they are stable on the medication they are currently taking but 95% of those living with lupus have a risk of flare-ups.”

One of the most common symptoms of lupus is a rash or redness on the face, commonly called the “butterfly rash.” Other symptoms include sores on the nose or mouth, joint pain, chest pain when breathing deeply, depression and others.

A recent study suggests that Black lupus patients are more likely to have organ system involvement, more active disease, and lower levels of social support compared to their White peers.

“The most commonly damaged organ is the kidney,” Grammer said. “This often leads to dialysis and transplant which can be very serious. The first symptom most patients see is the skin rash, also called the butterfly rash which is only on the cheeks and is you bodies autoimmune response. Oftentimes, you don’t realize it’s affecting the organs until you end up in the emergency room.”

LuGENE helps regulate lupus and prevent more complex problems. If doctors can find out when flare-ups occur, they can better know what medications keep the disease at bay and stable in various patients.

“LuGENE is the first step to allow patients to live a more stable life,” Grammer said. “It allows the patients to know if a flare up is coming. I use the analogy of seismology with volcanos. Before seismology, the volcanos just blew up, and people suffered because of it. But, since they can now be tracked before they happen, people can be prepared to avoid a larger problem.”

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