Margarida Azevedo, MSc,  —

A form of ultrasound imaging called shear-wave elastography (SWE) is more sensitive for assessing changes in skin stiffness over time in scleroderma (SSc) patients than the current gold standard measure, a study suggested. Because a lessening in skin stiffness was also observed in healthy people, skin changes…

Cell therapy company Cytori Therapeutics recently announced the presentation of an update on the clinical trials SCLERADEC I and II, which are investigating the use of Cytori Cell Therapy in the treatment of scleroderma-related hand dysfunction, at the  104th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Aesthetic Surgery in Tokyo, Japan. The…

A research team with scientists from the University of Granada in Spain and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has carried out the largest scleroderma study to date, creating a complete genetic map of the disease with the genetic analysis of more than 5,000 patients. Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a…

In a new article, a multidisciplinary team of international researchers summarized key points and deliberations regarding basic, clinical, and novel therapeutic research made at a World Scleroderma Foundation three-day meeting that gathered senior and junior investigators across research areas, as well as a patient spokesperson. The report’s main goals were to…

The organizing committee of the 4th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress recently held in Lisbon, Portugal on Feb. 18-20 recognized Inventiva, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of treatments for fibrosis, oncology, and orphan diseases, for its innovative approach in the development of its lead drug candidate, IVA337, a promising…

Researchers at Germany’s University of Luebeck and Charité University recently presented a study where they reported that circulating antibodies against specific chemokine (small proteins with an important role in the immune system) receptors exist in higher levels in patients with systemic sclerosis, and these antibodies correlate with disease progression and clinical…

Researchers at ChemomAb and Meir Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the University of Florence, Italy, recently presented a study investigating the therapeutic effect of the monoclonal antibody CM-101 in animal models of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The data was presented last week in a talk…

Researchers at Paris Descartes University, France, recently presented the results of a study investigating the effects of estrogen in the development of experimental dermal fibrosis and on the response of profibrotic cells to the major fibrosis cytokine-transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. The presentation, “Estrogens Inhibit the Profibrotic Effects of…

Scientists from the University of Florence, Italy, presented a study investigating the participation of the Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) process in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc) at the 4th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, that concluded Feb. 20, 2016. SSc is a chronic connective tissue disease…

Cytori Therapeutics recently announced its participation in the 4th World Systemic Sclerosis World Congress taking place Feb. 18-20, 2016, in Lisbon, Portugal. In a presentation titled “Treating Scleroderma of the Face and Hands with Fat and Stromal Vascular Fraction,” Professor Guy Magalon from the Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux…