Ana Barrera-Vargas

Genetics play a role in SLE pathogenesis, as twin and sibling risk for SLE is much higher than the general population. Our study is the first to define the genetic architecture of both common and rare SLE risk variants in the same patient in a diverse international childhood-onset SLE (cSLE) cohort. We demonstrate that patients with cSLE are enriched for common and rare SLE risk variants and therefore are an ideal population to target for further genetic study.

Abstract Formation of autoantibodies to carbamylated proteins (anti-CarP) is considered detrimental in the prognosis of erosive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The source of carbamylated antigens and the mechanisms by which anti-CarP antibodies promote bone erosion in RA remain unknown.

Objectives To assess if ubiquitinated proteins potentially present in neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) can modify cellular responses and induce inflammatory mechanisms in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and healthy subjects. Materials and methods We studied 74 subjects with SLE and 77 healthy controls. Neutrophils and low-density granulocytes were isolated, and NETs were induced.