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New York (eCanadaNow) - A team of scientists have identified several genes that are linked to lupus, according to a new report in the journal Nature.

Lupus.org describes lupus as "an autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, joints, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys and brain. Normally the body's immune system makes proteins called antibodies, to protect the body against viruses, bacteria, and other foreign materials. These foreign materials are called antigens."

Researchers hope that by identifing the gene which contributes to increasing the risk of developing lupus, it may be possible to find a treatment designed to combat the underlying problems instead of just the symptoms.

The study looked at 720 women with lupus, and compared their genes with those of 2,337 who are free of the disease.

This revealed three candidate genes with strong links to Lupus, and a few others with weaker links to the disease.

One of the strong candidates, the ITGAM gene, is known to play a role in the immune system, BBC News reported Monday.

Professor Timothy Vyse, a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow from the Division of Medicine at Imperial College London, and one of the authors of the study, said: "Lupus is a complex disease, which is hard to diagnose, and it can cause many different and unpredictable problems for patients. Living with Lupus can be really tough. We currently can treat the disease by suppressing the immune system, but we urgently need to understand in much more detail what goes wrong with the immune system so that we can design better treatments. This study represents a milestone in progress towards unravelling the secrets of the disease.

"We are continuing to work on refining these genetic studies. Blood samples from patients with Lupus have helped us already and we are very grateful to those who have given us samples. We always need more samples and would like to hear from anyone with Lupus who would like to help us by giving blood samples for this important research," added Professor Vyse.

lupus affects more than 50000 Canadians.

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