An observational study in Autoimmune Diseases, Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic and Communicable Diseases, sponsored by Emory University. Enrolling by invitation at 3 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-01.
Sponsored by Emory University · Observational
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 autoimmune disease. In this study, the researchers will look at these potentially defective cells in people with SLE and other autoimmune diseases and compare them to cells in healthy participants, as well as looking at the blood of first-degree relatives of people with autoimmune disease.
The study involves blood draws and bone marrow aspirates. Participants may be asked to donate 2/3 to about 9 tablespoons of blood. The volume of blood needed will depend on the experiment being done as different numbers of cells are necessary to run different experiments. Study participants may return for additional blood draws will not donate blood more than twice a week, and will not have more than 16 tablespoons of blood drawn in a one-month period. Participants donating bone marrow will have about 3 ½ tablespoons of bone marrow obtained, which will be drawn with a large needle from the bone located in the back of the hip. Bone marrow participants may be asked to donate up to 7 tablespoons of blood as well, in order to correlate the blood with the bone marrow sample and the populations of cells residing in each. Participants donating bone marrow may donate more than once, but must wait a minimum of 8 weeks between donations.
1,207 studies on the registry are indexed under Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; 405 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 2,500 is above the median of 151 across 280 observational studies indexed under Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic.
Browse Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic studies →Emory University is the lead sponsor of 1,405 studies on the registry; 225 are open to participants now.
Of its 237 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 178 (75%) have results posted.
Compared within Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Autoimmune Diseases. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Subjects with 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 Activity Index (SLEDAI) or Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM) score
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Autoimmune disease
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Subjects are healthy persons without any autoimmune conditions or infectious diseases
Subjects diagnosed with autoimmune disease including but not limited to: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Sjögren's Syndrome (SS), Scleroderma, Myositis, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), inflammatory arthritis, undifferentiated connective tissue disease, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD), Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (ALPS) and IgG4-related disease
Subjects diagnosed with an infectious disease including but not limited to: Hepatitis C, Epstein Barr Virus (infectious mononucleosis - EBV), Sepsis, Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), Mycoplasma pneumoniae or Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Subjects have a brother, sister, mother, father, or child with an autoimmune disease
Subjects have received or will receive a vaccination as part of regular standard of care from their healthcare provider or other outside source
Distribution of autoreactive B cells within bone marrow
B cells will be analyzed using flow cytometry.
Time frame: Baseline
The record gives a start of Aug 2012, a primary completion of May 2028 and a completion of May 2028. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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