Andrea Lobo, PhD,  science writer—

Andrea Lobo holds a PhD in cell biology/neurosciences from the University of Coimbra-Portugal, where she studied stroke biology. As a research scientist for 19 years, Andrea participated in academic projects in multiple research fields, from stroke, gene regulation, cancer, and rare diseases. She has authored multiple research papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Articles by Andrea Lobo

Kidney failure risk factors ID’d in children with AAV kidney disease

While it’s rare in children, ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV)-related glomerulonephritis, that is, an inflammation of the glomeruli, the kidneys’ filtering units, is associated with high rates of kidney failure or death, a study shows. Also, scar tissue accumulating in the glomeruli, other kidney tissue abnormalities, and high protein levels in…

ANCA antibodies against both PR3, MPO result in hybrid AAV features

People with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) who are positive for antibodies against both myeloperoxidase (MPO) and proteinase 3 (PR3) show a combination of clinical characteristics from patients with each antibody type, according to a recent study in China. While double-positive patients are generally more similar to those with MPO-ANCAs, particularly…

Tavneos linked to remission in ANCA-associated vasculitis

Tavneos (avacopan) safely and effectively promotes clinical remission in people with newly diagnosed or relapsing ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), according to a multicenter, real-world study in the U.S. The remission rates after a year of treatment were higher than those in the Phase 3 ADVOCATE trial (NCT02994927), whose…

Study in Japan shows AAV relapses more frequent in summer

ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) relapses occur more frequently during the summer and spring, particularly for people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or with anti-proteinase 3 (PR3) antibodies, a study in Japan reports. More frequent nasal infections caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus during the summer in Japan may trigger inflammation…

Telitacicept combo works to treat severe GPA in man, 64: Report

A 64-year-old man with severe granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) saw his condition improve with the use of a triple combination of standard cyclophosphamide and glucocorticoids along with the experimental therapy telitacicept, according to a case report from China. RemeGen’s telitacicept is approved in China under the brand name…

Severity of anemia tied to specific kidney lesions in AAV patients

The severity of anemia, or low levels of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin, is significantly associated with certain kidney lesions in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and kidney involvement, a study showed. These findings “reflect an additional aspect of anemia pathophysiology [disease mechanisms] in ANCA-associated renal vasculitis,” the researchers wrote. The study,…

Rituximab found as effective for AAV survival as cyclophosphamide

Treatment with rituximab has a similar efficacy to cyclophosphamide — both of them standard immunosuppressive therapies — in reducing short-time mortality in adults with life-threatening ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a study in Japan found. Moreover, rituximab was associated with a significantly lower risk of fungal infections relative to cyclophosphamide. However,…