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With an estimated 1.37 billion inhabitants, India will likely surpass China in five years as the world’s most populous country. That also means it will have more rare-disease patients than any nation. It already has more than twice as many as the 28-member European Union. Harsha K. Rajasimha, a genomics…

A new test that recognizes anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCAs) targeting proteins other than myeloperoxidase (MPO) and proteinase-3 (PR-3) could improve the diagnosis and classification of ANCA-associated vasculitis, a study suggests. The study, “ANCA Beyond MPO & PR-3: the Clinical Utility of an Expanded ANCA Profile,” was recently presented at…

The levels of two molecules in the blood — eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and interleukin-5 (IL-5) — reflect eosinophil activation in patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a study shows. As a result, these molecules may be used as markers to determine disease activity in EGPA patients and distinguish…

Genentech‘s Rituxan (rituximab) is safe and effective to induce and maintain remission in patients with refractory or relapsing granulomatous manifestations (inflamed tissue) due to granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), according to a new study. The findings were presented at the recent 19th International Vasculitis and ANCA Workshop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,…

While breathing difficulties in ANCA-associated vasculitis patients are often a symptom of worsening vasculitis in their lungs, doctors should also consider cardiac valve involvement — or damage to heart valves — as a possible cause, a case report suggests. The study, “Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA) Associated Vasculitis Causes Aortic…

Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy – which essentially consists on pooled antibodies from a thousand or more blood donors – could be a promising way of treating MPO-positive ANCA-associated vasculitis patients, an early study suggests. In a rat model of the disease, this therapy lowered the number of anti-MPO antibodies, reduced neutrophil traps –…

Some patients with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) produce antibodies against antimicrobial traps that may partly explain why these traps are capable of withstanding normal degradation, a study says. The study, “The presence of anti-neutrophil extracellular trap antibody in patients with microscopic polyangiitis,” was published in the journal Rheumatology.

A molecule known as chemokine receptor 8 (CCR8) can be seen at significantly high levels in people with active ANCA-associated vasculitis and serve as a blood biomarker of disease activity of importance to treatment, because its serum levels do not alter with infections, a study in Japan reports. Specifically, blood serum…

Eosinophils, a type of immune cell, appear to contribute to the inflammatory process seen in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), a study shows. The study, “Eosinophils in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis,” was published in the journal BMC Rheumatology. ANCA-associated…

A large proportion of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) who develop orbital mass, an eye complication, respond poorly to treatment, a study reports. Future studies need to evaluate the use and effectiveness of combination therapies for the subgroup of patients that are more likely to develop this condition, according…