News

Low levels of female sex hormones called estrogens might drive disease processes leading to skin fibrosis in scleroderma, according to a recent study evaluating the effect of estrogen on fibrosis in mice. The findings indicate that estrogen therapy might be used to harness fibrotic processes in women — an idea…

An easy-to-install heart monitor detects potentially deadly heart arrhythmias in patients with scleroderma without any known heart disease, according to a study presented at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2016), June 8-11 in London. The study underscores the need to identify patients at risk for heart disease to offer…

The German pharmaceutical company Medac, in August, will begin Phase 3 of a clinical trial to access the therapeutic potential of terguride, a disease-modifying drug for the treatment of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. Terguride is a serotonin receptor blocker, acting at two particular serotonin receptors called 5-HT2A and 5-HT2B. Medac is convinced…

Japanese scientists have discovered that endothelin-1 (ET-1) signaling through its B-type receptor contributes to the development of skin fibrosis. The finding suggests that ETB can be selectively targeted in new attempts to develop better antifibrotic drugs based on endothelin blockage. Scientists have long suspected that ET-1 signaling contributes to the…

Seeing someone wearing mittens on a warm spring day could make you wonder why — and it could be that person has scleroderma. A middle-age woman with no wrinkles can also be a tell-tale sign of scleroderma. The chances that people don’t know the symptoms or challenges of scleroderma are quite high…

Cytori Therapeutics recently announced that its FDA-approved Phase 3 STAR clinical trial evaluating ECCS-50 has enrolled and treated its 80th patient, reaching 100 percent of its target enrollment. Because of the strong interest and fast screening across the trial clinical sites, additional patients will be enrolled, so the final enrollment will…

Clopidogrel (Plavix) treatment may worsen blood vessel dysfunction and lead to the development of new digital ulcers in patients with scleroderma. The results of this proof-of-concept study indicated that platelet activation is not a main driver of fibrosis, also highlighting the need for caution when treating scleroderma patients who also…

Immune T-cells induced by the autoantigen topoisomerase-I were linked to lung fibrosis and found to predict disease progression in scleroderma patients. The finding may open new avenues of research into treatments that selectively target the various tissue-specific disease manifestations of scleroderma — a substantial improvement to the nonselective immunosuppression used today.

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…

Edward Harris, the man behind the Scleroderma Education Project, recently presented a review and analysis of published data about therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE), a potential technique for treating scleroderma, at the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) 2016 Annual Meeting. The presentation, “Therapeutic Plasma Exchange for the Treatment…