Current Arthritis News and Research » infection

Rituxan Possible Link to Brain Infection Death in Arthritis Patient

awesome — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:45:59 +0000

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that an arthritis patient that had been prescribed Rituxan has died of a rare viral infection more that a year and a half after discontinuing use of the drug. Rituxan, marketed in the U.S. by Biogen Idec and Genetech, is approved to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis.

There are previously reported cases of the infection in patients taking Rituxan for unapproved uses, including lupus. However, according to the FDA this is the first time that the infection has been reported in a patient taking the drug to treat arthritis.

The disease, called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, is very rare and is most often found in patients with severely impaired immune systems such as those with AIDS or taking immunosuppressive medications. It is caused by a virus for which 86% of the general population has antibodies.

Dendrite

Soma

Axon

Nucleus

Node of Ranvier

Axon Terminal

Schwann cell

Myelin sheath

PML gradually destroys the myelin sheath that covers the axons which impairs the transmission of nerve impulses. Axons are in effect the primary transmission lines of the nervous system. Bundles of axons help to make up nerves. PML results in paralysis, impaired speech, vision loss and cognitive deterioration. There is no known cure and patients generally die within 4 months.

“The patient had a number of confounding factors that make it difficult to assess the potential role, if any, that Rituxan exposure may have played,” according to a Genentech spokeswoman.

The FDA’s web site reports that the patient was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer in the months before she developed the infection.

Originally posted 2008-09-12 17:41:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Infections in Infants May Lead to Increased Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk

awesome — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:45:50 +0000

Swedish researchers have been investigating the link between serious infections during the first year of life and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). There have been previous studies that have indicated that infections can cause autoimmune diseases in adulthood. The current study seems to show that an infection in infants interferes with the normal maturation of the immune system.

To perform their analysis, the research team from the Karolinska Institute and Stockholm accessed information from national registers to conduct a case controlled study or people born between 1973 and 2002.

The research involved 333 cases of RA that were diagnosed in patients that were between the ages of 16 and 29 years and 3,334 cases of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). They matched each of these cases with 4 control subjects based on gender and age.

The researchers found that people who had a serious infection in their first year had twice the risk of developing JIA. They also found that babies that were premature, small or had a low birth weight demonstrated a reduced risk for RA, although they don’t know why.

In addition, they found that having a high birth weight or having more than 3 older siblings does not have a significant impact of risk of developing RA.

Said lead author Dr. Cecilia Carlens concludes, “Nobody had thought of this relationship with early-in-life infections and how they can affect the immune system.

“Our results indicate that infections during the first year of life and possibly also factors related to size at and timing of birth may be of etiological importance in the pathogenesis of RA and JIA.”

The results of the study were published in the Tuesday edition of the online journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Originally posted 2008-10-31 12:00:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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