Disclosed is a genetic testing method for diagnosing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a human subject. The method is related to amplifying nucleic acids from human tissue samples and analyzing for a variant allele of a gene encoding poly(ADP-ribosyl)transferase expression (PARP), which is diagnostic of SLE or indicates a genetic predisposition for developing SLE. Also disclosed are useful oligonucleotide primers, primer sets and genetic testing kits for detecting a genetic predisposition for developing SLE.