•High costs limit rituximab wide off-label administration in IgG4-related disease•Biosimilars are used in alternative to originators in many autoimmune disorders•Rituximab biosimilar CT-P10 is safe ...and effective in IgG4-related disease•This study first reports on a rituximab biosimilar in IgG4-related disease
Rituximab is increasingly used in IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) but high costs limit its wide off-label administration. European and US regulatory agencies have recently approved rituximab biosimilars for the treatment of different rheumatologic and hematological conditions. No data are available, yet, on the efficacy and safety of rituximab biosimilars for the treatment of IgG4-RD. Scope of the present work is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the rituximab biosimilar CT-P10 (RTX-B) in patients with IgG4-RD.
Patients with active IgG4-RD, naïve to rituximab or switched from the originator (RTX-O) to the biosimilar were treated with RTX-B and prospectively followed-up for 18 months. Safety and efficacy were assessed at six months. Relapse rate was assessed at 18 months. Disease activity was assessed by means of the IgG4-RD Responder Index (IgG4-RD RI).
Thirty-eight patients were included in this study. Thirty-three patients (87%) were naïve to RTX. Five patients (13%) relapsed after RTX-O and were switched to RTX-B. After six months, 21 patients (60%) achieved disease remission. The median serum IgG4 concentration decreased from 1344 to 575 mg/L (p < 0.01), and the median IgG4-RD RI decreased from 7.5 to 0 (p < 0.01). B-cell depletion was observed in all patients. Eight patients (36%) relapsed within 18 months. Side effects related to RTX-B administration were observed in 14 patients (37%). These results are in line with our previous experience with RTX-O.
The (TruximaTM) rituximab biosimilar CT-P10 represents a safe and effective alternative to rituximab originator for the treatment of IgG4-RD.
Type I autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) and IgG4-related sclerosing cholangitis (IgG4-SC) belong to the IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) spectrum. Both entities respond to glucocorticoids, but iatrogenic ...toxicity associated with prolonged steroid therapy and relapse represent relevant clinical concerns in the long-term. Rituximab is increasingly used as an effective alternative strategy to induce remission but data regarding the safety and efficacy of B-cell depletion therapy for pancreato-biliary involvement of IgG4-RD are limited. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the rate of remission, flare, and adverse events (AEs) occurring in pancreato-biliary IgG4-RD following rituximab treatment.
The MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and EMBASE databases were searched from inception to December 2020 to identify studies reporting the outcomes of IgG4-related pancreato-biliary disease after treatment with rituximab. Studies involving ≥2 patients were selected. In case of duplicated studies, the most recent or the one with the biggest N were chosen. The study was conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Pooled effects were calculated using a random-effect model and expressed in terms of pooled remission, relapse, and AEs rates.
Seven cohort studies met inclusion criteria and 101 patients were included. Reasons for rituximab administration were new disease onset (18.5%), disease flare after glucocorticoids (63.5%), and glucocorticoids intolerance (17.9%). The median follow-up time was 19 months. The pooled rate of complete response at 6 months was 88.9% (95%CI 80.5–93.9) with no heterogeneity (I2 = 0%). The pooled estimate of relapse rate was 21% (95%CI 10.5–40.3) with moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 51%). A higher rate of relapse (35.9%, 95%CI 17.3–60.1) was reported in studies including patients with multiorgan involvement (OOI). The median time to relapse was 10 months. The pooled estimate of rituximab-related AEs was 25% (95%CI 8.8–53) with substantial heterogeneity (I2 = 73.6%). No publication bias was observed.
Treatment of IgG4-related pancreato-biliary disease with rituximab is associated with high remission rate, a higher relapse rate in the presence of OOI, and limited AEs. Randomized controlled trials with adequate power are needed to confirm these findings.
IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a rare fibro-inflammatory condition affecting multiple organs lacking standardized management. In this article, we review the evidence available to provide European ...expert-based statements on the management of IgG4-RD which were integrated in a final algorithm.
A panel of nine European experts in IgG4-RD from different specialties was asked to elaborate a set of consensus statements through a Delphi exercise. Three rounds of survey were taken. Consensus was reached when ≥75% of the responders agreed with a statement.
Thirty-one statements on induction treatment, maintenance treatment, non-pharmacological treatment, and general considerations were assessed. Patients should be treated promptly in situations when there is an immediate organ threatened, or when organ damage is anticipated. Glucocorticoids (GC) are considered the first line of treatment and should be progressively tapered. Maintenance treatment is recommended for patients with high disease activity or with risk factors for relapse. Rituximab is effective for induction and maintenance of remission, but its use can be limited by economics. Low dose GC with or without GC-sparing agents can be used for maintenance therapy. Stenting or surgery should be ancillary to pharmacological treatment. Follow up should be based on physical examination, blood works, and imaging studies. Furthermore, it should be tailored on individual patient clinical history. 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computerized tomography may provide additional information over other imaging modalities.
These new statements and algorithm reached a high degree of agreement and may help guiding the clinical management of IgG4-RD.
•IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a rare inflammatory condition which can affect multiple organs.•Treatment is classically based on glucocorticoids (GC) but novel studies provide new therapeutic options.•We provide an updated guidance on IgG4-RD management and treatment incorporating rituximab and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs to the baseline treatment.•We reached a series of consensus statements to direct the treatment and management of patients with IgG4-RD.•Clinicians are provided with evidence-based recommendations and an integrative algorithm that might change their practice on IgG4-RD and homogenize it.
Restraining maladaptive inflammation is considered a rationale strategy to treat severe
(COVID-19) but available studies with selective inhibitors of pro-inflammatory cytokines have not provided ...unequivocal evidence of survival advantage. Late administration is commonly regarded as a major cause of treatment failure but the optimal timing for anti-cytokine therapy initiation in COVID-19 patients has never been clearly established.
To identify a window of therapeutic opportunity for maximizing the efficacy of interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 blockade in COVID-19.
Survival at the longest available follow-up was assessed in severe hyper-inflamed COVID-19 patients treated with anakinra, tocilizumab, sarilumab, or standard of care, stratified according to respiratory impairment at the time of treatment initiation.
107 patients treated with biologics and 103 contemporary patients treated with standard of care were studied. After a median of 106 days of follow-up (range 3-186), treatment with biologics was associated with a significantly higher survival rate compared to standard therapy when initiated in patients with a PaO
/FiO
≥ 100 mmHg (p < 0.001). Anakinra reduced mortality also in patients with PaO
/FiO
< 100 mmHg (p = 0.04).
IL-1 and IL-6 blocking therapies are more likely to provide survival advantage in hyper-inflamed COVID-19 patients when initiated before the establishment of severe respiratory failure.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a prominent stromal reaction that has been variably implicated in both tumor growth and tumor suppression. B-lymphocytes have been recently ...implicated in PDAC progression but their contribution to the characteristic stromal desmoplasia has never been assessed before. In the present work, we aimed to verify whether B-lymphocytes contribute to stromal cell activation in PDAC. CD19
+
B-lymphocytes purified from peripheral blood of patients with PDAC were cultivated in the presence of human pancreatic fibroblasts and cancer-associated fibroblasts. Released pro-fibrotic soluble factors and collagen production were assessed by ELISA and Luminex assays. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to assess fibroblast activation in the presence of B cells. The expression of selected pro-fibrotic and inflammatory molecules was confirmed on PDAC tissue sections by multi-color immunofluorescence studies. We herein demonstrate that B-cells from PDAC patients (i) produce the pro-fibrotic molecule PDGF-B and stimulate collagen production by fibroblasts; (ii) express enzymes implicated in extracellular matrix remodeling including LOXL2; and (iii) produce the chemotactic factors CCL-4, CCL-5, and CCL-11. In addition we demonstrate that circulating plasmablasts are expanded in the peripheral blood of patients with PDAC, stimulate collagen production by fibroblasts, and infiltrate pancreatic lesions. Our results indicate that PDAC is characterized by perturbations of the B-cell compartment with expansion of B-lymphocyte subsets that directly contribute to the stromal reaction observed at disease site. These findings provide an additional rationale for modulating B-cell activity in patients with pancreatic cancer.
A series of destructive and tumefactive lesions of the midline structures have been recently added to the spectrum of IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD). We examined the clinical, serological, ...endoscopic, radiological, and histological features that might be of utility in distinguishing IgG4-RD from other forms of inflammatory conditions with the potential to involve the sinonasal area and the oral cavity.
We studied 11 consecutive patients with erosive and/or tumefactive lesions of the midline structures referred to our tertiary care center. All patients underwent serum IgG4 measurement, flow cytometry for circulating plasmablast counts, nasal endoscopy, radiological studies, and histological evaluation of tissue specimens. The histological studies included immunostaining studies to assess the number of IgG4 + plasma cells/HPF for calculation of the IgG4+/IgG + plasma cell ratio.
Five patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), three with cocaine-induced midline destructive lesions (CIMDL), and three with IgG4-RD were studied. We found no clinical, endoscopic, or radiological findings specific for IgG4-RD. Increased serum IgG4 and plasmablasts levels were not specific for IgG4-RD. Rather, all 11 patients had elevated blood plasmablast concentrations, and several patients with GPA and CIMDL had elevated serum IgG4 levels. Storiform fibrosis and an IgG4+/IgG + plasma cell ratio >20% on histological examination, however, were observed only in patients with IgG4-RD.
Histological examination of bioptic samples from the sinonasal area and oral cavity represents the mainstay for the diagnosis of IgG4-RD involvement of the midline structures.
Introduction:
Treatment of autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is based solely on consensus and has yet to become standardized. Consequently, therapeutic regimens vary greatly between countries and ...centers, and largely depend on the experience of the physician. At this moment, the optimal regimen for inducing disease remission and preventing relapse is unknown.
Objectives:
The primary objective of this study is to describe current treatment regimens used in Europe, and to compare their effectiveness in inducing remission and preventing and treating relapse. The secondary objectives are: to identify risk factors for relapse; to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the Unified-AIP criteria; to assess the performance of the M-ANNHEIM score for predicting relapse; and to assess long-term outcomes including pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and pancreatic cancer.
Methods:
This is an international, retrospective, observational cohort study, performed in over 40 centers from 16 European countries. Eligible are all patients diagnosed with AIP from 2005 onwards, regardless of the used diagnostic criteria. Data on study subjects will be retrieved from the hospital's electronic medical records and registered with a standardized, web-based, electronic case report form (eCRF). To compare the effectiveness of treatment regimens in inducing remission, preventing relapse, and treating relapse, subjects will be stratified in groups based on: type of therapy; initial therapy dose; cumulative therapy dose; therapy tapering speed and duration; and having received maintenance therapy or not.
Ethics and Dissemination:
Ethical and/or institutional review board approvals are obtained by all participating centers according to local regulations. The study complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). All manuscripts resulting from the study will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals.
Conclusion:
This is the first pan-European retrospective registry for AIP. It will produce the first large-scale data on treatment of European patients with AIP, providing answers on the use and effectiveness of treatment regimens. In the future, this collaboration may provide a network for continuation into a prospective European registry.
18FFluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT is increasingly used to assess organ involvement and response to treatment in IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD), but clear correlations between 18F-FDG uptake and ...disease activity have not been established yet. We aimed to correlate the intensity and distribution of 18F-FDG uptake with validated clinical, serological and immunological parameters of IgG4-RD activity.
Twenty patients with active IgG4-RD underwent a baseline 18F-FDG PET/CT. Ten patients repeated 18F-FDG PET/CT after immunosuppressive treatments. 18F-FDG tissue uptake was measured using the standardized uptake value corrected for the partial volume effect (PVC-SUV) and the total lesion glycolysis (TLG) with (TLGtot+ln) and without (TLGtot-ln) lymph nodes. Disease activity was assessed by means of clinical parameters IgG4-RD Responder Index (RI), serological (ESR and CRP) and immunological (serum IgG4 and circulating plasmablasts) biomarkers. The enhanced liver fibrosis score was exploited as a biomarker for fibroblast activation.
Thirteen (65%) patients had two or more organs affected by IgG4-RD. All patients had active IgG4-RD as defined by a median IgG4-RD RI value of 9 (range 6-15; normal < 3). Serum IgG4 and plasmablasts were elevated in 85% of patients. Circulating plasmablasts positively correlated with PVC-SUV (P = 0.027), inversely correlated with TLGtot-ln (P = 0.023) and did not correlate with TLGtot+ln (P > 0.05). No statistically significant correlation was found between PVC-SUV or TLG and IgG4-RD RI, ESR, CRP, serum IgG4 or enhanced liver fibrosis score (P > 0.05). Clinical response to immunosuppressive therapies was associated with a consensual reduction of circulating plasmablasts, PVC-SUV, TLGtot+ln and TLGtot-ln values (P < 0.05 for all comparisons).
18F-FDG uptake of IgG4-RD lesions reflects immunological perturbations of the B cell compartment rather than fibroblast activation and extracellular matrix deposition. Conventional biomarkers of disease activity, namely IgG4-RD RI, ESR, CRP and serum IgG4 levels, do not appear to correlate with the radiometabolic activity of IgG4-RD lesions. In light of our results PET/CT represents a reliable instrument for assessing IgG4-RD activity, although lymph-node uptake deserves careful interpretation.
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