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Photo of Christopher Sjöwall

Christopher Sjöwall

Professor

My long-term ambition is to contribute to increased understanding of underlying mechanisms for disease-onset, progress and quality of life in systemic inflammatory diseases, especially systemic lupus erythematosus.

Clinical and experimental rheumatology

The rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondylarthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) belong to the endemic diseases, affecting more than 1 percent of the population of Sweden.

The immune system which protects us from bacterial and viral infections may in certain individuals with genetic susceptibility which are exposed to certain environmental factors loose its tolerance and attack endogenous tissues and organs. Knowledge on the etiology of rheumatic disease is increasing, and the number of treatment options for patients who suffer has risen dramatically in recent years.

My group is studying underlying mechanisms for rheumatic diseases, especially SLE, as well as biomarkers and autoantibodies in relation to diagnosis, treatment response and prognosis.


News

Publications

Selected publications

Extracellular vesicles opsonized by monomeric C-reactive protein (CRP) are accessible as autoantigens in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and associate with autoantibodies against CRP

Karlsson J, Wetterö J, Potempa LA, Fernandez-Botran R, O'Neill Y, Wirestam L, Mobarrez F and Sjöwall C.

Journal of Autoimmunity, 2023-09-01, Volume 139, Article 103073, 

Graphical Abstract from the publication: Extracellular vesicles opsonized by monomeric C-reactive protein (CRP) are accessible as autoantigens in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and associate with autoantibodies against CRP

Conformational state of C-reactive protein is critical for reducing immune complex-triggered type I interferon response: Implications for pathogenic mechanisms in autoimmune diseases imprinted by type I interferon gene dysregulation

Svanberg C, Enocsson H, Govender M, Martinsson K, Potempa LA, Rajab IM, Fernandez-Botran R, Wetterö J, Larsson M och Sjöwall C.

Graphical Abstract.

 

C-Reactive Protein Levels in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Are Modulated by the Interferon Gene Signature and CRP Gene Polymorphism rs1205

Enocsson H, Gullstrand B, Eloranta M-L, Wetterö J, Leonard D, Rönnblom L, Bengtsson A och Sjöwall C.

Front. Immunol., 28 January 2021 | 

Figure 2 CRP levels among patients with and without detectable IL-6 levels (Z-axis) along with different CRP genotype (rs1205) and type I IFN gene signature (IGS) status (X-axis). Bars show median values.

Latest publications in DiVA

2025

Mandi M. Wiley, Marcin Radziszewski, Bhuwan Khatri, Michelle L. Joachims, Kandice L. Tessneer, Anna M. Stolarczyk, Songyuan Yao, James Li, Cherilyn Pritchett-Frazee, Audrey A. Johnston, Astrid Rasmussen, Juan-Manuel Anaya, Lara A. Aqrawi, Sang-Cheol Bae, Eva Baecklund, Albin Bjork, Johan G. Brun, Sara Magnusson Bucher, Nick Dand, Maija-Leena Eloranta, Fiona Engelke, Helena Forsblad-d'Elia, Cecilia Fugmann, Stuart B. Glenn, Chen Gong, Jacques-Eric Gottenberg, Daniel Hammenfors, Juliana Imgenberg-Kreuz, Janicke Liaaen Jensen, Svein Joar Auglaend Johnsen, Malin V Jonsson, Jennifer A. Kelly, Sharmily Khanam, Kwangwoo Kim, Marika Kvarnstrom, Thomas Mandl, Javier Martin, David L. Morris, Gaetane Nocturne, Katrine Braekke Norheim, Peter Olsson, Oyvind Palm, Jacques-Olivier Pers, Nelson L. Rhodus, Christopher Sjöwall, Kathrine Skarstein, Kimberly E. Taylor, Phil Tombleson, Gudny Ella Thorlacius, Swamy R. Venuturupalli, Edward M. Vital, Daniel J. Wallace, Lida Radfar, Michael T. Brennan, Judith A. James, R. Hal Scofield, Patrick M. Gaffney, Lindsey A. Criswell, Roland Jonsson, Silke Appel, Per Eriksson, Simon J. Bowman, Roald Omdal, Lars Ronnblom, Blake M. Warner, Maureen Rischmueller, Torsten Witte, A. Darise Farris, Xavier Mariette, Caroline H. Shiboski, Marie Wahren-Herlenius, Marta E. Alarcon-Riquelme, Wan-Fai Ng, Kathy L. Sivils, Joel M. Guthridge, Indra Adrianto, Timothy J. Vyse, Betty P. Tsao, Gunnel Nordmark, Christopher J. Lessard (2025) Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Vol. 84, p. 1512-1527 (Article in journal)
Faria Shahab, Helene Zachrisson, Christina Svensson, Meriam Åström, Christopher Sjöwall, David Kylhammar (2025) Rheumatology International, Vol. 45, Article 183 (Article in journal)
Tomas Walhelm, Ioannis Parodis, Charlotta Enerbäck, Elizabeth Arkema, Christopher Sjöwall (2025) Lupus Science and Medicine, Vol. 12, Article e001504 (Article in journal)
Jesper Karlsson, Lina Wirestam, Hanna Duan, Suhana Ahmad, Daniel Appelgren, Helena Enocsson, Jonas Wetterö, Christopher Sjöwall (2025) Frontiers in Immunology, Vol. 16, Article 1578372 (Article in journal)
Alvaro Gomez, Tomas Walhelm, Floris C. Loeff, Andreas Jonsen, Dionysis Nikolopoulos, Bryan van den Broek, Anders A. Bengtsson, Annick de Vries, Theo Rispens, Christopher Sjöwall, Ioannis Parodis (2025) Rheumatology (Article in journal)

Publications in PubMed and ORCiD

About me

CV

Christopher Sjöwall, associate Professor.Christopher Sjöwall, Senior Associate Professor. Photo credit Ulrik Svedin

Program teaching

  • Medical programme
  • Biomedical Laboratory Science Programme
  • Doctoral studies

Network

  • Member of the Swedish SLE network (since 2010)
  • Chairman of Working group that compose Guidelines for the medical treatment of SLE with an annual update on behalf of the Swedish Society for Rheumatology (since 2018)
  • Member of Employment board, Medical Faculty LiU (since 2021)

Organisation