In terms of kidney health, cyclosporine is a more effective long-term maintenance therapy for people with lupus nephritis than either mycophenolate mofetil or azathioprine, new data suggest. Largely, the researchers drew this conclusion because patients using it — even in the presence of high urine protein levels —…
In studying how mycophenolate mofetil treatment affects immune cells and blood markers in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), researchers uncovered an immune pathway that may explain why is lupus suppressed by this medication. Their findings might…
The immunosuppressive agent tacrolimus, used in combination with other immunosuppressants, was deemed safe and effective for treatment of lupus nephritis, a serious complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a new study shows. The study, “Efficacy and safety of tacrolimus in induction therapy of patients with lupus nephritis,” was published…
Adding an oral immunosuppressive agent and hydroxychloroquine to routine intravenous cyclophosphamide significantly increases response rates among patients with lupus nephritis without increasing the rate of severe adverse events, a randomized study found. The study, “Combined immunosuppressive treatment (CIST) in lupus nephritis: a multicenter, randomized controlled study,” was published…
Monthly intravenous Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) treatment was linked to a lower accumulation of lupus nephritis kidney damage than other induction therapies investigated in a study of Japanese patients. Findings indicated that a complete response to treatment at three months predicted a lower damage accumulation, prompting researchers to suggest that a sustained…
Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was tested in laboratory mice with a systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-like disease, and was found to lower the animals’ blood pressure, levels of autoantibodies, and the number of specific white blood cells called B-lymphocytes. Patients with SLE often have high blood pressure, which may be caused by…
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has completed the initial analysis of voclosporin in its AURION trial, an open label, single arm, exploratory trial examining patients with active lupus nephritis (LN) taking voclosporin 23.7 mg. twice daily in combination with standard of care, mycophenolate mofetil, and corticosteroids. The study is assessing biomarkers of disease…
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has announced its AURA-LV clinical study has completed enrollment and will be treating a total of 265 lupus patients, surpassing its target of 258 patients. AURA-LV (Aurinia Urine protein Reduction in Active Lupus nephritis) is a Phase 2b is randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial to compare the efficacy of voclosporin…
Osteoporosis, a disease of low bone mass, can occur secondary to diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). While SLE itself does not seem to cause osteoporosis, chronic inflammation and long-term treatment with glucocorticoids can play a major role in inducing osteoporosis. In particular, it was shown in the article,…
Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) display a wide range of symptoms and disease activity. Accordingly, there are a variety of therapeutic regimens designed for them. Each has its own mechanism of action, but often times patients experience the same clinical relief of symptoms. This can confound the clear choice…