Lupus is a complex condition, mostly affecting women, which frequently causes skin rash, joint pains and fatigue, and which can also lead to inflammation of the kidneys and other internal organs.
A study was conducted of 720 women with the illness. It compared their genes with those of 2,337 who are free of the disease.
This revealed three candidate genes with strong links to Lupus, and a few others with weaker links to the disease.
ITGAM gene who played a role in the immune system is one of the strong candidates.
The other genes identified were more surprising to the experts, but could, they say, hold the key to developing more effective therapies.
Professor Timothy Vyse, from Imperial College London, and one of the authors of the study, said in a statement, "We currently can treat the disease by suppressing the immune system, but we urgently need to understand in much more detail what goes wrong with the immune system so that we can design better treatments."
He asked lupus patients to volunteer so that he can collect more blood samples to conduct further studies.
Jane Dunnage, the chairwoman of charity Lupus UK, and herself a Lupus patient, said that every patient is different showing different symptoms which could apply to many conditions. And that it would take years before a diagnosis of Lupus will be finally made.
"If we knew what the genes were involved, then in theory there could be done much more quickly," Dunnage added.
