Reid S, Alexsson A, Frodlund M, et al. - In patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), researchers explored the connections between high genetic disease risk and disease severity. Using a 200K Immunochip single nucleotide polymorphism array, SLE patients (n = 1,001, discovery cohort and n = 5,524, replication cohort) and healthy controls (n = 2,802 and n = 9,859) were genotyped. Survival analysis demonstrated the earlier onset of the first organ damage, first cardiovascular event, nephritis, end-stage renal disease and reduced overall survival in high to low quartile comparison. An association was found between high genetic risk score and increased risk of organ damage, renal dysfunction and all-cause mortality. In patients with SLE, genetic profiling can be helpful for anticipating outcomes.