Clarksahl2317
IgPro20 is the first approved subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg) preparation for the treatment of patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Two different doses of the SCIg preparation were investigated in the pivotal PATH study. Real-world data, and particularly the efficacy of an equivalent dose switch from intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) to SCIg, are still not available.
In this prospective observational study, 41 patients with CIDP treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) were changed to an equivalent (11) dose of IgPro20 1 week after last IVIg treatment. Patients were examined at the time of switch from IVIg to SCIg, after 3 and after 6 months and efficacy, treatment preferences and systemic and local reactions were assessed.
Various clinical outcome parameters demonstrated overall stability regarding disability, general activity and social participation, grip and muscle strength, as well as gait impairment. Treatment satisfaction remained unchanged between IVIg and SCIg therapy. However, 88% of patients favoured treatment with subcutaneous IgPro20 over IVIg 6 months after switch to IgPro20.
Results demonstrate that the switch of IVIg to an equivalent dose of SCIg represents an effective and preferred treatment option for CIDP patients.
Results demonstrate that the switch of IVIg to an equivalent dose of SCIg represents an effective and preferred treatment option for CIDP patients.Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that is characterised pathologically by demyelination, gliosis, neuro-axonal damage and inflammation. Despite intense research, the underlying pathomechanisms driving inflammatory demyelination in MS still remain incompletely understood. It is thought to be caused by an autoimmune response towards CNS self-antigens in genetically susceptible individuals, assuming autoreactive T cells as disease-initiating immune cells. Yet, B cells were recognized as crucial immune cells in disease pathology, including antibody-dependent and independent effects. Moreover, myeloid cells are important contributors to MS pathology, and it is becoming increasingly evident that different cell types act in concert during MS immunopathology. This is supported by the finding that the beneficial effects of actual existing disease-modifying therapies cannot be attributed to one single immune cell-type, but rather involve immunological cooperation. The current strategy of MS therapies thus aims to shift the immune cell repertoire from a pro-inflammatory towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype, involving regulatory T and B cells and anti-inflammatory macrophages. Although no existing therapy actually exists that directly induces an enhanced regulatory immune cell pool, numerous studies identified potential net effects on these cell types. This review gives a conceptual overview on T cells, B cells and myeloid cells in the immunopathology of relapsing-remitting MS and discusses potential contributions of actual disease-modifying therapies on these immune cell phenotypes.
To retrospectively assess factors associated with John Cunningham virus (JCV) seroconversion in natalizumab-treated patients.
Natalizumab is highly effective for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), but its use is complicated by opportunistic JCV infection. This virus can result in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Serial assessment of JCV serostatus is mandated during natalizumab treatment.
Patients treated with natalizumab for RRMS at six tertiary hospitals in Melbourne, Australia (
= 865) and 11 MS treatment centres in Brazil (
= 136) were assessed for change in JCV serostatus, duration of exposure to natalizumab and prior immunosuppression. Sensitivity analyses examined whether sex, age, tertiary centre, prior immunosuppression or number of JCV tests affected time to seroconversion.
From a cohort of 1001 natalizumab-treated patients, durable positive seroconversion was observed in 83 of 345 initially JCV negative patients (24.1%; 7.3% per year). Conveersion. read more In addition, male sex may be associated with increased positive JCV seroconversion.
In this large international cohort of natalizumab-treated patients we observed an annual durable positive seroconversion rate of 7.3%. This rate exceeds that noted in registration and post-marketing studies for natalizumab. This rate also greatly exceeds that predicted by epidemiological studies of JCV seroconversion in healthy populations. Taken together, our findings support emerging evidence that natalizumab causes off-target immune changes that may be trophic for JCV seroconversion. In addition, male sex may be associated with increased positive JCV seroconversion.Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare tumors of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract yet represent the most common GI sarcomas. Most GISTs are driven by activating mutations of the KIT and/or PDGFRA genes. Prior to the development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), GISTs were associated with a poor prognosis because conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy was relatively ineffective. However, TKIs that inhibit the most common driver mutations in KIT or PDGFRA have revolutionized the treatment of GISTs over the past two decades. Notwithstanding, ongoing management challenges relate to the development of secondary mutations in these genes, resulting in tumor progression. Due to both the intra- and inter-patient heterogeneity of these secondary mutations in GISTs, optimal treatment requires an agent that blocks as many mutant genes as possible. Ripretinib - a novel switch-control TKI - inhibits many of the most common primary and secondary activating KIT and PDGFRA mutants involved in GIST progression througance develops or patients are unable to tolerate the side effects of treatment, after which the next drug is started. Ripretinib was recently approved by the FDA as the fourth drug in the usual treatment sequence recommended for patients with advanced GIST who have progressed (or are treatment intolerant) after receiving three or more TKIs, including imatinib. Approval of ripretinib was based on the results of the INVICTUS trial, which demonstrated that the drug significantly improves the time patients have without progression of the disease or death compared with placebo. The most common side effects related to ripretinib were hair loss, muscle pain, nausea, fatigue, hand-foot syndrome, and diarrhea, although most events were not very severe. Ripretinib is being further studied as the second TKI used in patients with GIST who have progressed on or could not tolerate first-line treatment with imatinib.
