Dysfunctional Red Blood Cells in Children Identified as a Potential Root Cause of Lupus
Pascual and Caielli had described mitochondrial dysfunction in two types of immune cells, neutrophils and CD4 T cells, in children with SLE.
- Pascual and Caielli had described mitochondrial dysfunction in two types of immune cells, neutrophils and CD4 T cells, in children with SLE.
- However, it was not known if mitochondrial dysfunction in other cells circulating in the blood contributes to SLE development or its progression.
- Dr. Pascual and her team chose to look at red blood cells (RBCs) since they are unique compared to other cells.
- "We found that a significant number of children with SLE had mature red blood cells which still contained mitochondria.