Margarida Maia, PhD, science writer —

Margarida is a biochemist (University of Porto, Portugal) with a PhD in biomedical sciences (VIB and KULeuven, Belgium). Her main interest is science communication. She is also passionate about design and the dialogue between art and science.

Articles by Margarida Maia

Combo maintentance therapy found more effective in severe EGPA

Combination maintenance therapy with Nucala (mepolizumab) and azathioprine may be more effective than either treatment alone at maintaining disease remission and reducing the need for glucocorticoids in people with severe eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). These are the findings of a single-center study in Japan that support the use…

Antibiotic mix may prevent serious infections with rituximab for GPA

The combination antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) may help prevent serious infections for people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) who are taking the immunosuppressant rituximab, a study of U.S. data shows. Preventive treatment, or prophylaxis, with TMP-SMX in people with this common type of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) tended to…

Conduit to move AZD1656 into clinical trials for AAV, lupus

Conduit Pharmaceuticals is planning to launch Phase 2a clinical trials to test its lead oral candidate AZD1656 in people with immune system disorders — specifically ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) as one indication. “With its potential to become a first-in-class therapy for autoimmune diseases, AZD1656 represents a significant leap forward…

IBD diagnosis often comes before AAV, study finds

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) — a chronic disease where the bowel becomes inflamed, causing recurring lower abdominal pain and diarrhea — can overlap with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and is often diagnosed first, a study found. The finding suggests a possible link between the two diseases, and that having IBD…

Immune protein CX3CL1 may be biomarker of active MPA, GPA

High blood levels of the protein CX3CL1, a pro-inflammatory immune signal that appears to be associated with blood vessel inflammation, can accurately discriminate microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) patients with active disease from those without, a study found. Importantly, high CX3CL1 levels were found to increase the…