Breakthrough opens door to safer lupus drugs

[RL_sparky]

Thanks, I just don't remember ever seeing anything about it before.

 

[Marky90]

High bAFF was proposed some years ago by Bansal et.al.: "
B cell development in the spleen and naive B cells
In the spleen, transitional B cells mature into long-lived naive B cells (CD19+IgM+IgD+CD27–); an important survival factor is B cell-activating factor (BAFF) (Blys) and its receptor BAFF-R. The CFS patients had greater proportions of naive B cells compared to controls, which is not surprising as they have greater proportions of transitional B cells which are naive B cell progenitors. None the less, it is also possible that CFS patients may be producing more BAFF to allow the survival of these increased proportions of naive B cells. Once through this transitional stage of development, B cells develop into either follicular B cells (CD19+CD27– CD38+mIgD+mIgMhi) or marginal zone (MZ) B cells (CD19+CD27+CD38–mIgD+mIgMhi).
"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3719933/

They also found reduced circulation of plasmablasts, which i actually have.
Can`t wait for the paper to be published! Feels like they`re closing in on the disease mechanisms..

 

[greeneagledown]

In addition to BAFF they mentioned that clinically they see two groups of patients: hyperimmune patients and patients prone to infection.

Hi, @deleder2k. Do you know if there is any initial indication in Norway that one of these two groups might be more likely to respond to Rituximab than the other?

 

[deleder2k]

Hi, @deleder2k. Do you know if there is any initial indication in Norway that one of these two groups might be more likely to respond to Rituximab than the other?

No, sorry. The only thing I've ever heard about responders is that those who are severe are less likely to respond. In addition a study was published by Scheibenbogen about some markers. She used the blood bank from RTX patients in her study. http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...university-hospital-charite-berlin-etc.41232/

 

[greeneagledown]

No, sorry. The only thing I've ever heard about responders is that those who are severe are less likely to respond. In addition a study was published by Scheibenbogen about some markers. She used the blood bank from RTX patients in her study. http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...university-hospital-charite-berlin-etc.41232/

Thanks.

 

[Dan_USAAZ]

Yes, there is something to be said about selection bias.

I am pretty sure there are loads of publications that support elevated antibody levels in pwME, but I cannot think of any off the top of my head.

But as a person with ME, I have elevated values for all the usual suspects. So I conform to that characteristic.

Yes, that is anecdotal. I suspect, though, you'll find many similar anecdotes on this forum.

I concur. My HHV6 and EBV antibody titers are 3200% (32X) the top end of the normal range. When I take Valcyte and Valtrex, these numbers come down and I get some symptom improvement. It is my understanding that there are a subset of patients with a similar profile.

I believe the CFS diagnosis contains many diseases that happen to have some overlapping symptoms. As long as research continues to treat the CFS diagnosis as a one illness and looks for a single biomarker that crosses the whole patient group, there will be little progress. Subgrouping is critical.