News

Systemic Sclerosis Patients with ILD Seen to Have High Levels of Defensins in Lungs

A new study showed that systemic sclerosis patients with interstitial pneumonia (SSc-ILD) have elevated levels of defensins in their lungs. Defensins are immune molecules with antimicrobial and inflammation regulatory properties. The study, titled “Association of elevated α-defensin levels with interstitial pneumonia in patients with systemic sclerosis,“  was published in the…

LARIAT Clinical Trial Expands to Include Connective Tissue-Associated ILD

Pulmonary hypertension is a common co-morbidity of connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma, occurring in up to 40 percent of patients. Texas-based Reata Pharmaceuticals recently announced that the first patient has enrolled in the LARIAT clinical trial, a study examining the therapeutics effect of bardoxolone methyl in patients with pulmonary…

Scleroderma Patients with Hand Dysfunction Show Sustained Benefits from Cell Therapy

Cytori Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on developing autologous cell therapies from adipose tissue for the treatment of several conditions, recently announced sustained positive results from its SCLERADEC-I clinical trial assessing the effects of Cytori Cell Therapy (ECCS-50) in patients with hand dysfunction related to scleroderma. Specifically, the company reported that…

Top 10 Scleroderma Articles of 2015

Throughout 2015, Scleroderma News reported on studies characterizing scleroderma disease subsets, unique features, case reports, potential therapies and strategies for symptom management. As the year comes to an end, here are the top 10 articles that generated the most interest among Scleroderma News readers, as registered by total views. Here are the…

OFEV to Be Tested in Systemic Sclerosis Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease

Boehringer Ingelheim recently announced the enrollment of the first patient in the Phase 3 clinical trial SENSCIS (Safety and Efficacy of Nintedanib in Systemic SClerosIS) evaluating the safety and efficacy of the company’s product nintedanib (OFEV) in patients with systemic sclerosis and interstitial lung disease. Systemic sclerosis is a rare, chronic autoimmune…

New Biomarker Assay to Aid in Systemic Sclerosis Diagnosis

Protagen AG, a leader in the development of novel molecular diagnostics for autoimmune diseases, recently launched the Multilisa BICD2, an ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) that together with clinical symptoms will aid on the diagnosis of systemic sclerosis (SSc). SSc is a complex, multi-organ autoimmune disease characterized by increased fibroblast…

Scleroderma Researchers ID New, ‘Personalized’ Way of Classifying Disease

A new and promising way of classifying the debilitating autoimmune disease scleroderma has been developed by researchers in Australia. Their study, published in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatology, is titled “Interpretation of an Extended Autoantibody Profile in a Well-Characterized Australian Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma) Cohort Using Principal Components…