Steve Bryson, PhD, science writer —

The likelihood of developing ANCA-associated vasculitis rises significantly among people living near quarries that extract quartz with silica, a data analysis from France reported.  Its findings also support silica exposure as a specific environmental risk factor for this disease. …

A committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — which provides the agency with non-binding recommendations from independent medical experts — has narrowly supported the approval of avacopan for the treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). In the final segment of a public meeting,…

Serious infections occur more frequently in people with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis who have higher disease activity at diagnosis, a real-world, long-term study showed. Moreover, most serious infections occur during the first year after the ANCA vasculitis diagnosis, the study found.

Vasculitis UK has granted £53,364 (about $73,500) to support a research project investigating how people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and other vasculitis respond to COVID-19 vaccines.  Led by Lucy Fairclough, PhD, an associate professor at Nottingham University, in the U.K., the project seeks to…

Changes in autoantibodies that target the protein PR3 in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) may help predict sustained remission following treatment, and eventual disease relapses, a study found. The research also shows that the ALBIA method, which is becoming widely…

A group of proteins that modulate immune responses, called heat shock proteins (HSPs), are significantly elevated in the kidneys of people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), and their levels are associated with poorer kidney function and organ survival, a multi-year study found.  These…

Low levels of the protein alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) do not appear to be enough to increase the risk of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — despite prior associations of AAT deficiency with AAV — according to a new study.

Depression is more common in people with primary systemic vasculitides, including in those with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), than in healthy people, a review study has found.  Depression in vasculitis patients was also significantly associated with a poorer quality of…

A combination of both blood tests and biopsy (tissue) analysis was better at predicting end-stage renal disease in people with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) compared to tissue analysis alone, a study has found.  The scientists recommended using the AAV renal…

Blood vessels in the kidneys that swell due to an infection can mimic ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), making diagnosis and treatment of these two conditions challenging, a case study shows.  Identifying and treating infections associated with AAV are essential to helping patients, the researchers…