ANCA Autoantibodies Produced in Healthy People, Study Shows

Healthy individuals also produce a type of self-reactive antibodies — termed IgM ANCA — present in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a study has found. While low, the levels in healthy people are comparable with those in AAV patients whose disease is less active. The antibodies’ role is still…

ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) can cause kidney damage without affecting the glomeruli, the filtering unit of the kidneys, a case report suggests. Doctors should consider this possibility to avoid a late diagnosis and irreversible kidney damage, especially if anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibodies (ANCAs) against myeloperoxidase (MPO) are present, according to…

Researchers say an important clinical assessment is determining whether ANCA-associated vasculitis patients who need dialysis at disease onset, due to severe kidney damage, can become dialysis independent. A study has now found that people with AAV are more likely to achieve that independence if their kidney manifestations are…

ANCA-associated vasculitis patients who develop oral candidiasis during treatment with immunosuppressants have a significantly greater risk of severe infections compared to patients who never develop oral candidiasis, a study shows. Together with use of methylprednisolone pulse therapy and higher serum albumin levels, oral thrush appears to be a significant…

When autoimmune diseases such as ANCA-associated vasculitis are found at the same time as cancer, properly diagnosing and treating them alongside the cancer is crucial to ensuring best outcomes for the patient, a case report suggests. The study, “Simultaneous Occurrence of Sarcoidosis and Anti-neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-associated Vasculitis in a…

Oklahoma suffers more tornadoes than any other state, has the highest per-capita rate of women in U.S. prisons, ranks second in the number of teen births per 100,000 teenage girls, and has the nation’s third-highest rate of uninsured residents — with 13.9% of all Oklahomans lacking health coverage. As if…

Screening newborns for genetic diseases with treatments that can prevent crippling or deadly progression, especially for rare disorders, has a ways to go in the United States. No state today tests for all 35 disorders recommended under a federal screening panel, and even in those that come close, rare…

Levels of rheumatoid factor — an antibody against healthy tissue found in some autoimmune diseases — appear to separate eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) patients into two subtypes with different disease mechanisms, a study suggests. “Subtypes in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis classified according to rheumatoid…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Pfizer‘s Ruxience (rituximab-pvvr), a biosimilar to Rituxan (rituximab), as a treatment for granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) — the two most common subtypes of ANCA-associated vasculitis, the company announced. Pfizer also…

Although serum levels of the pro-inflammatory molecule interleukin (IL)-6 do not predict who will achieve complete remission, increases during periods of no disease activity are associated with subsequent severe relapses in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) on rituximab, according to an exploratory study. The research, “The…