Antiviral Therapy May Reduce Risk of Infection in AAV Patients, Clinical Study Suggests

Antiviral therapy prevents silent reactivation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients and improves patients’ immune responses, a proof-of-concept clinical study shows. These results suggest that antiviral therapy may reduce the risk of infection in these patients. The study, “Subclinical Reactivation of Cytomegalovirus Drives CD4+CD28null T-Cell Expansion…

Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis who have a kidney condition called glomerulonephritis have higher mortality rates than those without this complication, a study shows. The condition affects 2 in every 100,000 inhabitants, researchers found in a population-based cohort in Minnesota. The study, “Incidence, prevalence, mortality and chronic renal…

A case report of a patient with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), with the disease affecting both the heart and lungs, suggests that Rituxan (rituximab) together with corticosteroids might be a successful therapeutic approach. The study, “Eosinophilic Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis and Cardiac Involvement: A Case Report,” appeared in…

Patients with dermatomyositis — a condition marked by muscle weakness and a distinctive skin rash — can develop acute kidney disease due to overlapping autoimmune diseases affecting the small vessels, a case report shows for the first time. The patient described in the report developed both anti-glomerular basement membrane…

Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) with elevated SDMA — a pro-inflammatory molecule — in their blood have a greater risk of kidney failure or death, according to researchers. Their research, “Higher levels of SDMA and not ADMA are associated with poorer survival of trial patients with systemic ANCA-associated…

The ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes — two types of immune cells — can be used to predict disease activity at diagnosis and risk of relapse in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis, a new study shows. The study, “Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio at diagnosis can estimate vasculitis activity and poor…

Roughly 1 in 10 patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis have another overlapping autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or scleroderma, according to a study. Patients whose vasculitis is limited to their kidneys appear to be at a greater risk of having an accompanying autoimmune disease, researchers also…

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared two assays to be used in the diagnosis of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), according to PerkinElmer. Specifically, the FDA cleared the EUROPLUS Granulocyte Mosaic and the EUROIMMUN ANCA IFA — also referred to as EUROIMMUN IFA Granulocyte assays — to be…

Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) who have renal symptoms might benefit from a kidney biopsy along with measurements of ANCA antibodies and kidney function to predict their renal outcomes, a Chinese study reported. The study, “An evaluation of the 2010 histopathological classification of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated glomerulonephritis: a…

A case study from Japan found that patients with microscopic polyangiitis can, on rare occasions, develop aneurysms in their renal arteries, a complication that can lead to blood vessel rupture and sometimes death. The case report with the finding, “Ruptured renal artery in microscopic polyangiitis: a case report and…