At NY Genome Center, Legal Expert Presents Ethical Dilemmas in Gene Editing

Developing gene therapies for rare diseases is one thing. Creating gene-edited “designer babies” is quite another. German legal expert Timo Minssen outlined the potentially explosive ethical landmines surrounding such issues during a recent talk at the New York Genome Center. Minssen directs the Center for Advanced Studies in…

Cocaine and levamisole, a chemical substance commonly used to cut the drug, can trigger ANCA production and mimic the symptoms of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), researchers said. Most cases affect the skin and the nose, but they also can involve internal organs like the kidneys, a study including…

More people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), including those with kidney involvement, also have connective tissue diseases (CTD) than is generally thought, especially among female patients. But the co-existence of a CTD was unlikely to worsen kidney disease or change overall disease outcomes, a study reports. AAV patients with connective…

The autoimmune condition ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) needs improved classification systems that can better predict disease outcomes, a Spanish study says. Disease management should be based more on individual patient characteristics and levels of disease severity than on general classifications or ANCA specificities, the researchers suggest. The study, “…

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy leads to a fast and significant reduction in disease activity, as well as in the levels of inflammatory biomarkers, in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a review of several studies found. The study, “The therapeutic efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin in anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody-associated…

Imagine living your whole life with a painful disease so rare that only 25 others worldwide have what you have. And that you’re one of just six such people who’ve made it to adulthood. Neena Nizar doesn’t have to imagine. The 41-year-old English professor at Metro Community College in Elkhorn,…

Dividing people with active ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) into different subgroups may be useful for determining prognosis and selecting each person’s best course of treatment, researchers say. The classification method would be based on the levels of specific types of immune cells found in the patients’ blood. Results from…

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…