Betty Tsao, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

2007 Gender Matters

While females are much more likely than males to get lupus—nine women for every one male is affected—illness that does develop in males tends to be particularly severe.

Dr. Tsao has LRI funding to pursue her novel hypothesis on potential genetic defects that may underpin male lupus.

Based in part on several reported cases in which males with lupus carried an extra copy of the X chromosome, Dr. Tsao hypothesizes that X chromosome genetic defects are critical in male lupus.

She is now examining if certain X chromosome genes that already have been implicated in lupus are altered (duplicated, for example) in males with the illness.

Her findings may aid in developing genetic tests for susceptibility to lupus.

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