Posts Tagged ‘lupus’

Lupus, which is a chronic inflammatory disease, affecting more than 1 million people in the United States alone can be effectively treated with use of steroids.

The biological rationale as to why large doses of corticosteroids (steroids) administered over several weeks can be of great help to lupus patients was revealed by researchers at the UT Southwestern Medical Center.

From News-Medical.Net:

Unlike the anabolic steroids athletes sometimes use illegally to bulk up muscle, corticosteroids are routinely used to treat inflammation in lupus patients. The drugs, however, can cause undesirable side effects including weight gain and acne when taken over long periods of time.

In a study published in a recent issue of Nature, researchers at UT Southwestern and other institutions show in blood cells that giving very high doses of intravenous corticosteroids early and frequently in the course of the disease is more effective at killing the cells that drive lupus than giving the standard limited intravenous steroids followed by high doses of oral corticosteroids over a period of months. The cells used came from lupus patients as well as from animal models of lupus.

Dr. Marilynn Punaro, professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern and co-author of the study, remarked that administration of high doses of steroids in the preliminary stages and on a regular basis could greatly help in high steroid doses at a later point of time.

Rituximab, which is presently recommended for the treatment of cancer, is also effective for treating lupus and severe complications of the central nervous system.

Lupus is an immune system disorder that is featured by a self-imposed attack of the body itself that causes severe pain, diffused body organ damage, and inflammation besides reducing life quality of patients.

Rheumatologists at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Vienna, Austria, found out that Rituximab is effective for treating lupus.

From News-Medical.Net:

Professor Neuwelt specialises in diagnosing and treating patients with CNS lupus. “It can be difficult to disentangle psychiatric disorders that arise from other causes,” he states. In a portion of patients, depression, seizures, verbal comprehension, perception and memory will be associated with lupus. People are understandably afraid to admit that their IQ has gone down or that they cannot read any more in fear of losing their job,” he continued. A careful history, ruling out other causes such as infection and drug side effects has improved diagnostic accuracy.

Professor Neuwelt, like others using this well-tested oncological drug in other forms of lupus, is concerned about the depletion of the B cells by rituximab for the long term. However, the risk/benefit ratio from this new treatment in its early stages is extremely promising. “It is the first drug in my 26 years of treating patients with severe central nervous system lupus, used alone or in combination with other therapies that has not only significantly boosted the quality of life for patients with this dreadful disease, but also reduced the burden of side effects of standard treatment with steroids and cyclophosphamide. However, we desperately need randomized-controlled trials.” he concluded.

Clinical professor Michael Neuwelt, at the University of California San Francisco and Stanford University, said that Rituximab can be recommended as a gentle treatment option with reduced risk of side effects.