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A new research raises hope for a new class of drugs to treat lupus that may not include the long list of adverse risks and side effects often associated with current treatments of the disease. 

Lupus, also known as systemic lupus erythematosus, is a progressive, degenerative disease in which the immune system turns against itself, attacking a person's healthy tissue, cells and organs. Symptoms of lupus vary from debilitating pain and fatigue to organ failure and a host of other impairments. 

According to reports, around 1.5 million people in U.S. are affected from this disease. 

Up until now, there is no cure of the disease, however researchers of this study hope to get one in days to come. 

The research could lead to a new, more natural therapeutics for lupus that use a plant-derived chemical. 

The study findings detail the use of synthetic, plant-derived compound which has been shown to effectively suppress the multiple steps of lupus development in murine models. 

"The development of lupus is a two-step reaction. First, the immune system develops antibodies that attack the body's own DNA, then that activated immune system attacks the kidneys," said one of the researchers Chandra Mohan. "We found that CDDO may block both of these steps."

"The most exciting part of this research is that CDDO is originally plant-derived, so it's relatively natural and carries less chance of side effects," Mohan added. "That's a very important point, because many of the current therapeutic agents being used for lupus have significant side effects. As far as we have tested in these experiments, we found that the CDDO compound had no known side effects. Additionally, compared to many other test compounds we've previously tried for treating lupus, this one appears to be much more effective."

Findings of the study were published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology.