BIOMARKERS OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE)

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a slowly advancing "hardening" of the arteries that leads to strokes, heart attacks, and loss of blood flow to limbs. CVD that leads to angina (chest pain), cramping of the legs, or heart attacks is only the last phase of CVD. The early phases of disease begin as early as the first ten years of life. Therefore, to reduce the number of patients who suffer from strokes and heart attacks, people who are in the early phases of CVD should be identified for treatment. Current markers of risk for CVD identify only 60-70% of those who will later have heart attacks. CVD is much more common in patients with diseases such as lupus (SLE). In fact, the risk for CVD among patients with SLE is up to ten times that of the general population. However, markers that identify early CVD in the general population do not work as well in SLE patients. Early markers (biomarkers) of CVD are needed for SLE patients so that those at risk for CVD can have treatment to prevent heart attacks and strokes. This study is being undertaken to identify such markers of early CVD in SLE. This research is sponsored by the Lupus Foundation of America. The purpose of this study is to identify markers of CVD in patients with SLE. Subjects are being asked to participate in this study because they are between the ages of 18 and 80 and have been diagnosed with lupus (SLE).