PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - RACHNA AGGARWAL AU - BAHRAM NAMJOU AU - SHIBO LI AU - ANIL D’SOUZA AU - BETTY P. TSAO AU - BENJAMIN F. BRUNER AU - JUDITH A. JAMES AU - R. HAL SCOFIELD TI - Male-only Systemic Lupus AID - 10.3899/jrheum.090726 DP - 2010 Jul 01 TA - The Journal of Rheumatology PG - 1480--1487 VI - 37 IP - 7 4099 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/37/7/1480.short 4100 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/37/7/1480.full SO - J Rheumatol2010 Jul 01; 37 AB - Objective. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is more common among women than men, a ratio of about 10 to 1. We undertook this study to describe familial male SLE within a large familial SLE cohort. Methods. SLE families (2 or more patients) were identified from the Lupus Multiplex Registry and Repository. Genomic DNA and blood samples were obtained using standard methods. Autoantibodies were determined by multiple methods. Medical records were abstracted for SLE clinical data. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed with X and Y centromere-specific probes, and a probe specific for the Toll-like receptor 7 gene on the X chromosome. Results. Among 523 SLE families, we found 5 families in which all the SLE patients were male. FISH found no yaa gene equivalent in these families. SLE-unaffected primary female relatives from the 5 families with only-male SLE patients had a statistically increased rate of positive antinuclear antibodies compared to SLE-unaffected female relatives in other families. White men with SLE were 5 times more likely to have an offspring with SLE than White women with SLE, but there was no difference in this likelihood among Black men. Conclusion. Because women in the all-male families had positive antinuclear antibodies, and men are more likely to have children with SLE, these data suggest genetic susceptibility factors that act only in men.