Methods for diagnosing severe systemic lupus erythematosus
AssigneesRegents of the University of Minnesota, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
InventorsTimothy W. Behrens, Emily C. Baechler, Peter K. Gregersen
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Abstract
The invention relates to methods and materials involved in diagnosing SLE. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and materials involved in diagnosing SLE, diagnosing severe SLE, and assessing a mammal's susceptibility to develop severe SLE. For example, the invention provides nucleic acid arrays that can be used to diagnose SLE in a mammal. Such arrays can allow clinicians to diagnose SLE based on a simultaneous determination of the expression levels of many genes that are differentially expressed in SLE patients as compared to healthy controls.
Claims6
A method for diagnosing severe systemic lupus erythematosus, said method comprising:
- (a) determining whether or not a human contains blood cells that express C1-inhibitor and lectin, galactoside-binding, soluble, 3 binding protein genes to an extent greater than the average level of expression exhibited in control blood cells from one or more control humans, and
- (b) diagnosing said human as having severe systemic lupus erythematosus if said human contains said blood cells and diagnosing said human as not having severe systemic lupus erythematosus if said human does not contain said blood cells.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.