Study of the Predictors of the Course and Early Outcome of Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Nature Versus Nurture

OBJECTIVES: I. Continue yearly ascertainment visits of all patients of the established Lupus in Minority Populations: Nature vs Nurture (LUMINA) study cohort. II. Recruit into the LUMINA cohort newly diagnosed patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). III. Determine the impact of additional major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and non-MHC genetic factors not previously examined, specifically tumor necrosis factor, mannose binding protein, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, and bcl-2, on the course and outcome of SLE. IV. Refine the assessment of those clinical and behavioral-cultural factors found to be important predictors of disease activity, damage, and functioning, thus far in these patients. V. Determine the relationships among disease activity, disease damage, and physical and mental functioning in these patients as the SLE progresses and the factors that predict them.