Emory University
The purpose of this study is to compare immune phenotype, function, and specificity of B lymphocytes from different developmental stages in autoimmune patients to B cells from infectious disease patients and healthy controls.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease (in autoimmune illness, the immune system in the body attacks it's own cells, leading to illness). It is not completely understood how this disease develops in the body. In a normal person, there is a tolerance of antigens (substances that make antibodies, which protect the body from disease-causing agents). Research in mice suggests that defects in certain types of cells can make the body lose this tolerance, therefore recognizing antigens made in the body as foreign, and mounting an immune response to the "self", thus causing autoim…
Inclusion Criteria: * Signed written informed consent by the subject or, if the subject is unable to provide informed consent, the subject's legal representative may provide consent. * Subjects can be of either gender * Subjects with autoimmune diseases, and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients will fulfill the American College of Rheumatology Classification criteria for SLE to be determined by their treating physician but may have incomplete criteria (\<4 items). SLE patients are not restricted by treatment or by disease activity as determined by Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease A…
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