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A new study showed that certain proteins present in the blood can serve as reliable biomarkers for the detection of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc), as well as for the distinction of different stages of disease severity. The study, “A Proteome Derived Longitudinal Pharmacodynamic Biomarker For Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis…

Ratings of digital ulcers by rheumatologists tend to differ according to the clinician involved. But a new study reports that including clinical information, such as the presence of pain or ulcer discharge, did not improve the reliability in how rheumatologists rate digital ulcers in scleroderma patients. The findings were reported in…

Eosinophil count in peripheral blood may be associated with disease severity in scleroderma according to a study published in the scientific journal Springer Plus.

The European Commission (EC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have both designed Ofev (nintedanib; manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim) an Orphan Drug (ODD) for the treatment of scleroderma, as well as the associated interstitial lung disease. A large Phase 3 trial evaluating its effectiveness in scleroderma is now recruiting…

A drug called Buspar (buspirone), which is primarily used to treat generalized anxiety disorder can improve esophageal symptoms in most scleroderma patients with esophageal involvement, according to a study published in the scientific journal Arthritis Research and Therapy.

Few scleroderma patients have antibodies directed specifically against the Ku antigen, but those who do, and have them as the only autoantibody present, are more likely to have interstitial lung disease and higher levels of a muscle degradation factor. Ku autoantibodies, as noted, are rare in people with scleroderma. The…

Protagen AG and Inova Diagnostics have signed a semi-exclusive license agreement for BICD2, a new autoantigen and the first proprietary biomarker discovered by Protagen using its SeroTag technology, a diagnostic platform. The newly discovered anti-BICD2 autoantibodies are found in about 30% of patients with…

A marriage or near-marriage relationship that is satisfying can considerably help to ease depression in women with systemic sclerosis compared to single woman with disease-related symptoms of depression, according to a study by researchers in Canada. But an unhappy marriage can amplify depressive symptoms in these women, reducing their ability to…

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), evaluated in 18 people with rapidly progressing systemic sclerosis, found the experimental therapy superior to standard treatments for the disease for this patient population. The retrospective report detailing these findings, “Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has better outcomes than conventional therapies in patients with rapidly progressive…

People with clinical manifestations that affect appearance, such as those with systemic sclerosis (SSc), are more likely to exhibit social avoidance behaviors due to body image concerns. In a recent study, the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group described a new scale able to measure social avoidance in patients with SSc, often called…