Grant to study pregnancy outcomes

[Guest guest]

The Lupus Site

Site Updates Lupus News Contact

Message Boards

Chat Room

Lupus store

The Lupus Book(UK customers)

powered by FreeFind

Alliance for Lupus Research-Funded Investigator Wins $5.7 Million Grant For Work on Predictors of Pregnancy Outcomes in Lupus Patients

NEW YORK, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Jane Salmon, M.D., a researcher at theHospital for Special Surgery in New York, leveraged data from preliminaryresearch supported by the Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR), a leading sourceof private funding for lupus research, to gain a $5.7 million award from NIAMS(NIH). The grant will be used to identify predictors of pregnancy outcomes inpatients with lupus as a means of preventing recurrent miscarriage and otherpregnancy complications.In 2000, Dr. Salmon set out to prove a hypothesis about inflammation andpregnancy loss that challenged conventional thinking. Seeing the potential ofher novel idea, ALR committed $1.5 million to support Dr. Salmon's work,allowing her to quickly progress with preliminary studies that set the stagefor the NIH grant. Additional support was provided by The KirklandCenter for Lupus Research."We are extremely proud of the progress that Dr. Salmon has made with herstudy," said Barbara Boyts, the president of the Alliance for Lupus Research."It exemplifies the type of targeted, innovative research that the Alliancefor Lupus Research will continue to support because of its potential to make asignificant impact on the lives of lupus patients in the quickest timeframe."The NIH grant will fund the PROMISSE Study (Predictors of pRegnancyOutcome: bioMarkers In antiphospholipid antibody Syndrome and Systemic lupusErythematosus). Led by Dr. Salmon, PROMISSE is a prospective observationalstudy of 400 pregnant patients, enrolled at six major clinical centers, andgrouped and analyzed according to the presence or absence of antiphospholipidantibodies (aPL) and preexisting SLE. Dr. Salmon aims to utilize data fromthis study to identify predictors of poor fetal outcome in humans, inparticular those with lupus. Studies in animal models of aPL-associatedpregnancy loss indicated that activation of complement and release ofinflammatory mediators was responsible for fetal injury. The new projectshould provide the necessary groundwork for an interventional trial ofcomplement inhibition in patients at risk for fetal loss, and may eventuallyresult in means of preventing recurrent miscarriage in lupus patients.During the next five years, Dr. Salmon will lead a core group ofinvestigators with recognized expertise in SLE and aPL pregnancy, high-riskobstetrics, the basic biology of complement, and statistical methods in SLEstudies, including ALR-funded investigators W. Behrens, M.D., of theUniversity of Minnesota and A. Petri, M.D., M.PH of s HopkinsUniversity, to carry out this study. Researchers will obtain and analyzedetailed medical and obstetrical information during the course of pregnancyand serial blood specimens for complement and cytokine assays, to identifypredictors of poor fetal outcome. RNA will be analyzed to elucidate temporalchanges in gene expression during the course of complicated and uncomplicatedpregnancies and placentas will be studied to characterize tissue pathology andmediators of tissue injury."We believe that our study will provide insight into the mechanisms ofcomplement-mediated inflammatory disorders and discover a means to prevent,control, or modify the conditions causing pregnancy loss in patients withlupus," said Dr. Salmon.Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), commonly called lupus, is anautoimmune disease in which antibodies attack the kidneys and other organs.Potentially fatal, it strikes primarily young women.A 501 ©(3) organization, the Alliance For Lupus Research is chaired by Wood IV, of the & healthcare family and ownerof the NFL's New York Jets. Since its inception in 1999, ALR has committedmore than $26 million to lupus research, and has made remarkable gains towardunlocking the mysteries of this disease. ALR directs one hundred percent offunds raised to peer-reviewed research and scientific programs. For moreinformation on the Alliance for Lupus Research, visithttp://www.lupusresearch.org or call .

Recommend this site to your friends

Visit our Message Boards

< Previous - Refresh - Next >

Read our privacy policy - Advertise - Sitemap © Copyright The Lupus Site 1997-2004None of my material can be used on any other site, or in any other form, without prior permission from the author. However feel free to link to my site from yours. The Lupus Site is affiliated with Lupus UK through the Lancashire & Cheshire Regional Group.The information on this page is only for general advice. No responsibility can be taken for anything that happens as a result of following or ignoring advice on this site.