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Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who carry a specific allele of the gene MUC5B have about double the risk of developing interstitial lung disease when compared with noncarriers, according to a large Finnish biobank study presented at the annual European Congress of Rheumatology.

The gain-of-function MUC5B variant, which encodes mucin 5B, was first linked to RA-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) more than 3 years ago. At that time, it was already a known genetic risk factor for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the general population. The new data confirm the association in a longitudinal analysis of a large biobank and suggest the association might have clinical utility.

Source: Medscape

Using belimumab after rituximab to treat patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) refractory to conventional therapy not only significantly decreased levels of serum IgG anti-dsDNA antibody levels but also prolonged the time before severe flares of disease occurred in the phase 2b BEAT-LUPUS (Belimumab after B cell depletion in SLE) study.

Source: Medscape

Lifileucel shows promise in metastatic-melanoma patients whose disease had progressed on standard immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and other therapies, according to a small open-label trial. “Lifileucel is a ground-breaking form of cellular immunotherapy that utilizes the immune cells of patients derived from their own tumors as a treatment,

Source: Reuters Health

A 14-day course of hybrid therapy was as effective as 10-day bismuth quadruple therapy, but with fewer side effects, according to results of a randomized trial conducted in Taiwan.

In a prospective, randomized comparative study published in 2017, the eradication rates (93.9%) in patients receiving 14-day bismuth quadruple therapy (pantoprazole, bismuth subcitrate, tetracycline, and metronidazole) were comparable with eradication rates (92.8%) with 14-day hybrid therapy (dual therapy with pantoprazole plus amoxicillin for 7 days, followed by quadruple therapy with pantoprazole, amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and metronidazole for 7 days).

Source: Medscape

Mortality is two to three times higher in patients with adrenal incidentalomas who have autonomous cortisol secretion levels of 83 nmol/L (3 µg/dL) or more after a 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST) compared with those with levels below this, new research finds.

Autonomous cortisol secretion (ACS) has been linked to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and early mortality, and risks vary by cortisol level.

Source: Annals of Internal Medicine

The investigational sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) 1/2 inhibitor sotagliflozin is the first agent clearly shown in a prespecified analysis of randomized trials to improve clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Researchers who ran the SCORED and SOLOIST–WHF pivotal trials for sotagliflozin first made that claim in November 2020 when reporting top-line results from a prespecified meta-analysis of the two trials during the American Heart Association annual scientific sessions.

Source: Medscape

In the HARP-2 trial of simvastatin in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), published a few years ago, the main results were neutral, but in the subgroup of patients with hyperinflammatory ARDS, there was a reduction in mortality with simvastatin in comparison with placebo.

Moreover, in a series of observational studies of patients with COVID-19, use of statins was associated with a reduction in mortality among hospitalized patients. However, there are limited high-quality data to guide clinical practice.

Source: Medscape

An experimental varenicline nasal spray can reduce signs and symptoms of dry eye disease, the results of a phase 3 trial suggest. That’s because Oyster Point’s OC-01 works by stimulating the trigeminal nerve through the nasal passage, causing the eyes to tear. By contrast, most current treatments are either anti-inflammatories or artificial tears that don’t include all the components of natural ones.

OC-01 also improves symptoms relatively fast — in as few as 14 days, rather than the 3-6 months needed for some other dry eye treatments.

Source: Medscape

A new drug combination containing rifapentine and moxifloxacin has finally broken the 6-month treatment barrier for drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis, requiring only 4 months to produce a disease-free state at 1 year in most patients.

In open-label, phase 3, multinational trial, Doctors pitted 4-month regimens containing 1200 mg of rifapentine taken once daily with or without 400 mg of moxifloxacin taken daily against a standard 6-month regimen of rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. For both 4-month treatments, rifapentine replaced rifampin, and for one of them, moxifloxacin also replaced ethambutol.

Source: The New England Journal of Medicine

A plant-based fusion protein is safe and effective for inducing favorable immune modulation in patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis with no immune suppression–side effects reported.

OPRX-106, an orally administered BY2 plant cell–expressing recombinant TNF fusion protein, has demonstrated effectiveness as an anti–TNF-alpha therapy.

After 8 weeks, 67% of the patients demonstrated clinical response and 28% showed clinical remission. 89% of the patients experienced some degree of improvement in their Mayo scores, 61% had mucosal improvement, and 33% achieved mucosal healing.

Source: Medscape