The severity of the kidney involvement can alter the survival rate of patients with lupus. In some cases, kidney damage is so severe it leads to kidney failure. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder, which means the body's immune system attacks its own healthy cells and tissues. Lupus is considered to be a multifactorial condition. The factors are usually both genetic and environmental, where a combination of genes from both parents, in addition to unknown environmental factors, produce the trait or condition.
Multifactorial traits do recur in families because they are partly caused by genes.
Females are affected with lupus three to ten times more often than males. A group of genes on chromosome 6 codes for the HLA antigens which play a major role in susceptibility and resistance to disease. Specific HLA antigens influence the development of many common disorders, many that are autoimmune related and are inherited as multifactorial traits. When a person has the specific HLA antigen type associated with the disease, they may have a genetic susceptibility to have the condition and be more apt to develop it. The HLA antigen associated with lupus is called DR2 and DR3.