An increase in blood levels of a self-reactive antibody called MPO-ANCA predicted the return of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) symptoms within months in most patients in a Belgian study. None of the patients whose MPO-ANCA levels decreased and remained undetectable in blood experienced relapses, data showed. “Monitoring MPO-ANCA levels in…
About half of the patients who began dialysis due to kidney disease from ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) could stop it within a year, with outcomes improving further in those treated with plasma exchange, a procedure that removes harmful antibodies from the blood, according to a study. “The need for dialysis…
A greater disease burden and poorer physical quality of life were found for people with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) who test positive for self-reactive anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) against the myeloperoxidase (MPO) protein compared with EGPA patients who don’t have such autoantibodies. Those are the findings of a new…
In ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), about 1 in every 4 patients with glomerulonephritis, a type of kidney inflammation, have C3 immune protein deposits in their kidneys, and these are linked to more severe kidney problems, a study shows. These deposits didn’t appear to interfere with how long patients lived or…
Use of the experimental therapy BDB-001 helps adults with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) achieve at least partial disease remission, while reducing the need for standard glucocorticoids. That’s according to new data from a Phase 1/2 clinical trial conducted in China. Glucocorticoids, also commonly called corticosteroids, are a standard AAV…
Measuring circulating microRNAs — short RNA molecules that ultimately suppress gene activity — could offer doctors a less invasive way to monitor glomerulonephritis, a type of kidney inflammation, in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a study found. However, the study included a small number of patients, and testing microRNAs, or miRNAs,…
Treatment with the immunosuppressants cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, or rituximab after ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients have experienced a brain bleed, or intracranial hemorrhage, is linked to better survival, according to a review of previously reported cases. “In our pooled analysis, we found that initiating [immunosuppressant] treatment after [brain bleeds] … was…
In adults with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), the amount of TWEAK protein in urine was about 50% as high when their disease was active as after six months of treatment, making it a useful biomarker for tracking disease activity, according to a new study from Sweden. The study further found…
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has signed a license agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical to develop and market povetacicept — a B-cell-targeting candidate for treating ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and other autoimmune diseases driven by self-reactive antibodies and marked by signs or symptoms of kidney involvement — in Japan and South Korea.
Updated treatment guidelines from the British Society for Rheumatology favor rituximab over cyclophosphamide for active, relapsing ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), and set a standard maintenance treatment period of about 2-4 years after the disease has entered remission, or is determined to be well controlled. These recommendations are part of…
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