DxTerity, a molecular information and diagnostics company developing at-home RNA monitoring blood tests for immune-mediated diseases, will present key findings from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and multiple sclerosis (MS) studies at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting this week. 

In the Lift and Empower studies, researchers evaluated interferon gene expression levels in participants with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and multiple sclerosis (MS) respectively.

SLE is the most common form of lupus, affecting approximately 1.5 million individuals in the U.S., and is incurable. Women of color are the most commonly affected by the autoimmune disease. SLE produces autoantibodies that lead the body to attack its own tissue and organs. Symptoms include painful or swollen joints, extreme fatigue, fever, skin rash, and organ damage.

“From-home access to patients with autoimmune disease opens up opportunities for remote care and regular disease monitoring at the biological level,” said Bob Terbrueggen, PhD, CEO and founder, DxTerity. 

DxTerity will present data at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting that looks at the correlation between age and ethnicity in SLE. Type 1 interferon (IFN) expression has been shown to correlate with disease severity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

A preview of the findings demonstrate that 36.8 percent of patients with SLE were found to have high IFN expression, while only 20 percent of MS patients were. Additionally, High IFN was associated with ethnicity and age at time of diagnosis in the SLE cohort.

IFN levels were higher in African Americans (68.1 percent) and Asians (90.6 percent) compared to Caucasians (31 percent), and higher in those diagnosed at less than 18 years of age (70.4 percent) compared to disease diagnosis between ages 18-30 (45.4 percent) and diagnosis at over 30 years of age (27.3 percent).

These data correlated with published literature of higher disease severity in those subgroups.

The Lift study demonstrated stratification of individuals with SLE based on their IFN expression levels and the potential for from-home measurement of type 1 interferon.

Other Key Findings to be Presented:

• How the Autoimmune Profile Test (AIP) provides high precision, gene expression analysis of 12 immune related disease pathways including type 1 interferon (IFN) levels in a low-cost, at-home blood test
• How a direct-to-patient recruitment model is uniquely successful at rapidly enrolling individuals with autoimmune diseases into clinical studies
• Demonstration of statistically significant relation of Type 1 IFN with disease state, ethnicity, and age of participants.
• A summary of DxTerity’s scientific presentations at the ACR/ARHP annual meeting are as follows. 

About Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)

SLE is the most common form of lupus, an incurable autoimmune disease affecting approximately 1.5 million individuals in the U.S., primarily women of color. SLE produces autoantibodies that lead the body to attack its own tissue and organs. Symptoms include painful or swollen joints, extreme fatigue, fever, skin rash, and organ damage.

(Source: DxTerity)