Is systemic lupus erythematosus inherited ?
SLE and other autoimmune disorders tend to run in families, but the inheritance pattern is usually unknown. People may inherit a gene variation that increases or decreases the risk of SLE, but in most cases do not inherit the condition itself. Not all people with SLE have a gene variation that increases the risk, and not all people with such a gene variation will develop the disorder.  In rare cases, SLE can be inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, which means both copies of the gene in each cell have mutations. The parents of an individual with an autosomal recessive condition each carry one copy of the mutated gene, but they typically do not show signs and symptoms of the condition.