AAV patients on rituximab respond poorly to COVID-19 vaccination

Nearly three-quarters of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients treated with rituximab fail to mount an effective immune response against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, following two doses of vaccines. That’s according to data from the U.K.-based OCTAVE trial, which evaluated immune responses to vaccines in patients with reduced immune…

Nearly half of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) patients are able to stop taking glucocorticoids after a median of nine months on Nucala (mepolizumab), a small study in Japan suggests. This was true even for those with severe symptoms of this rare type of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV),…

People with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) who develop low antibody levels associated with rituximab treatment are at high risk of serious infections, a new study from France highlights. “Our real-life study provides useful information to answer a practical question: what is the risk of [serious infection] when initiating or…

Among people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), those with central diabetes insipidus are more frequently diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), a type of AAV, according to a study in China. Central diabetes insipidus, or CDI, is a rare disease characterized by excessive thirst and excessive urine. Patients with…

Researchers in Korea have identified a new index that can predict all-cause mortality in non-obese people with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). The index accounts for blood levels of fatty molecules called triglycerides and blood sugar, as well as body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height and…

A combination of two standardized scores of kidney damage can accurately predict the prognosis of renal disease in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a study indicates. This composite measure — the renal risk score (RRS) and the renal vascular lesions (RVL) score — “may serve as a new predictor…

Immunosuppressants may help prevent subglottic stenosis — a condition wherein part of the windpipe becomes tight — from returning in people with a type of ANCA-related vasculitis called granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), a small Italian study suggests. The study, “Role of systemic immunosuppression on subglottic stenosis in granulomatosis…

A blood marker, called C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR), may predict and help monitor disease activity in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), according to a small study in Turkey. This is important in clinical practice because “close monitoring, early recognition, and timely treatment of disease activity may limit…

Two types of self-reactive antibodies, called anti-HMGB1 and anti-moesin antibodies, are present at significantly higher levels in the blood of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients relative to healthy people and those with other autoimmune diseases, a study shows. The levels of these antibodies are also linked to how AAV manifested…

About 1 in 10 people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) failed to achieve complete remission at three months after starting induction treatment with rituximab, according to a small study in France. Poor responders were more likely to have symptoms in a specific area of the body — a localized form…