IRF7 and systemic lupus erythematosus: Progestogens impair IRF-7 activation in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (Hughes et al., 2008), which regulate the TLR-mediated decreased production of IFN-α, a major source of type 1 IFN, through depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), thereby ameliorating the IFN signature and consequently SLE disease activity (Tan, Peeva & Zandman-Goddard, 2015).