The trial is the first to study how to fight kidney lupus using gene therapy and CAR-T.

He lupus It is a chronic disease that attacks the immune system and affects several organs, mainly in young women. Lupus impairs quality of life due to symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, or joint pain. It is currently treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressants.

A serious consequence of this disease is refractory lupus nephritis, a progressive inflammation of the kidneys that is resistant to conventional treatment and can lead to chronic kidney disease and require dialysis or transplantation. To combat this disease, the Clinic of the University of Navarra is leading a project of the Jiménez Díaz Foundation, whose goal is to find a safe and effective treatment for this serious disease.“We cannot overstate the relevance of this therapeutic advance, since a young woman on dialysis has a life expectancy reduced by 44 years, while with a kidney transplant it increases to 22 years,” says Dr. Alberto Ortiz, head of the nephrology service at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation and a researcher on the project.

The goal is to use CAR T-cell gene therapy, a type of immune therapy that uses a patient’s own T cells that have been genetically modified in the lab. Dr. Jose Maria Moraspecialist in nephrology clinics, explains that “With this treatment, we aim to improve these modified cells to fight this entity in a personalized and precise way. This will allow us to offer a new perspective on the treatment of the disease.“.

Participating researchers from more than 40 hospitals in Spain, including Dr. Jorge Rojas Rivera, a lupus nephritis specialist and one of the main promoters, have created a consortium called CART-NEL, which operates independently of the pharmaceutical industry and aims to promote innovative treatments developed in national laboratories. “This approach will reduce the costs of developing treatments and increase access for patients,” says Dr. Mora.

The research team is made up of professionals from different specialties and includes joint participation from three national research networks (RICORS 2040-Kidney Diseases Network, Inflammatory Diseases Network and RICORS TERAV for Advanced Therapies). The project, which has funding of more than one million euros provided by the Carlos III Institute of Health, is expected to be carried out over four years.