- Biologics Can Significantly Improve Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) in Psoriatic Patients: A Systematic Review. [Review]
- CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life of psoriatic patients will be improved by the studied biologics. In the future, more research is needed into biologics on patient and quality of life characteristics.
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- Construction of miRNA-regulated drug-pathway network to screen drug repurposing candidates for multiple sclerosis. [Journal Article]Medicine (Baltimore). 2022 Mar 18; 101(11)M
- Given the high disability rate of multiple sclerosis (MS), there is a need for safer and more effective therapeutic agents. Existing literature highlights the prominent roles of miRNA in MS pathophysiology. Nevertheless, there are few studies that have explored the usefulness of existing drugs in treating MS through potential miRNA-modulating abilities.The current investigation identifies genes t…
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- Cost-Effectiveness of Low-Dose Antithymocyte Globulin Versus Other Immunotherapies for Treatment of New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes. [Journal Article]Diabetes Technol Ther. 2022 04; 24(4):258-267.DT
- Objective: Several immunotherapies have shown efficacy in slowing C-peptide decline in new-onset type 1 diabetes. Although most of these biologic drugs are expensive, they offer the opportunity to reduce downstream disease management costs and risk of complications. The objective of this study is to examine the cost-effectiveness of immunotherapies versus no treatment for patients with new-onset …
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- Risk of herpes zoster associated with biological therapies for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. [Meta-Analysis]
- CONCLUSIONS: Biological therapies, especially tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors, may lead to the risk of HZ in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis patients. Amongst these agents, infliximab and etanercept have been shown to significantly increase the risk of HZ. Additionally, younger age and female sex may be risk factors.
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- LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury: Alefacept [BOOK]LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Bethesda (MD)BOOK
- Alefacept is a recombinant fusion protein of lymphocyte function associated antigen-3 (LFA-3) and immunoglobulin G dimer that acts to inactive T cells, and is an immunosuppressive agent that was previously used to treat moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Alefacept is associated with a low rate of serum enzyme elevations during therapy and to rare instances of clinically apparent acute liver inj…
- Risk of Herpes Zoster Among Psoriasis Patients Taking Biologics: A Network Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies. [Systematic Review]
- Background: Herpes zoster (HZ) has raised public concern. An increasing incidence of HZ can be seen in the immunocompromised population, such as the psoriasis patients taking biologics. Real-world evidences are still needed to investigate the risks of HZ among patients receiving different biologics treatments. This study aims to summarize the findings from cohort studies. Methods: Herein, we perf…
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- Invasive Fungal Diseases in Children with Hematological Malignancies Treated with Therapies That Target Cell Surface Antigens: Monoclonal Antibodies, Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and CAR T-Cell Therapies. [Review]
- Since 1985 when the first agent targeting antigens on the surface of lymphocytes was approved (muromonab-CD3), a multitude of such therapies have been used in children with hematologic malignancies. A detailed literature review until January 2021 was conducted regarding pediatric patient populations treated with agents that target CD2 (alefacept), CD3 (bispecific T-cell engager [BiTE] blinatumoma…
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- Exhausted-like CD8+ T cell phenotypes linked to C-peptide preservation in alefacept-treated T1D subjects. [Randomized Controlled Trial]
- Clinical trials of biologic therapies in type 1 diabetes (T1D) aim to mitigate autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β cells through immune perturbation and serve as resources to elucidate immunological mechanisms in health and disease. In the T1DAL trial of alefacept (LFA3-Ig) in recent-onset T1D, endogenous insulin production was preserved in 30% of subjects for 2 years after therapy. Given our …
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- CD4+CD25+CD127hi cell frequency predicts disease progression in type 1 diabetes. [Journal Article]
- Transient partial remission, a period of low insulin requirement experienced by most patients soon after diagnosis, has been associated with mechanisms of immune regulation. A better understanding of such natural mechanisms of immune regulation might identify new targets for immunotherapies that reverse type 1 diabetes (T1D). In this study, using Cox model multivariate analysis, we validated our …
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- Comparing Beta Cell Preservation Across Clinical Trials in Recent-Onset Type 1 Diabetes. [Journal Article]
- Several immunotherapies have demonstrated endogenous insulin preservation in recent-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D). We considered the primary results of rituximab, abatacept, teplizumab, alefacept, high-dose antithymocyte globulin (ATG), low-dose ATG, and low-dose ATG ± granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor trials in an attempt to rank the effectiveness of the agents studied. C-peptide 2-h area unde…
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- CD2 Immunobiology. [Review]
- The glycoprotein CD2 is a costimulatory receptor expressed mainly on T and NK cells that binds to LFA3, a cell surface protein expressed on e.g., antigen-presenting cells. CD2 has an important role in the formation and organization of the immunological synapse that is formed between T cells and antigen-presenting cells upon cell-cell conjugation and associated intracellular signaling. CD2 express…
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- Structure-Based Design and Discovery of a Long-Acting Cocaine Hydrolase Mutant with Improved Binding Affinity to Neonatal Fc Receptor for Treatment of Cocaine Abuse. [Journal Article]
- Despite decades of efforts to develop a pharmacotherapy for cocaine abuse treatment, there is still no FDA-approved treatment of diseases associated with this commonly abused drug. Our previously designed highly efficient cocaine hydrolases (CocHs) and the corresponding Fc-fusion proteins (e.g., CocH3-Fc) are recognized as potentially promising therapeutic enzyme candidates for cocaine abuse trea…
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- Evolution of the inclusion/exclusion criteria and primary endpoints in pivotal trials of biologics and small oral molecules for the treatment of psoriasis. [Review]
- Introduction: Primary endpoints and inclusion/exclusion criteria of biologics and small oral molecules for psoriasis treatment have been evolving due to a better understanding of the pathogenesis and potential risks.Areas covered: We analyzed the designs of key phase 3 pivotal trials of all biologics and small oral molecules approved for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis from published data on …
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- In vitro Evidence That Combination Therapy With CD16-Bearing NK-92 Cells and FDA-Approved Alefacept Can Selectively Target the Latent HIV Reservoir in CD4+ CD2hi Memory T Cells. [Journal Article]
- Elimination of the latent HIV reservoir remains the biggest hurdle to achieve HIV cure. In order to specifically eliminate HIV infected cells they must be distinguishable from uninfected cells. CD2 was recently identified as a potential marker enriched in the HIV-1 reservoir on CD4+ T cells, the largest, longest-lived and best-characterized constituent of the HIV reservoir. We previously proposed…
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- Systemic treatments for alopecia areata: A systematic review. [Journal Article]
- A range of systemic treatments are used for alopecia areata with variable evidence supporting efficacy. In this systematic review, we evaluated the evidence surrounding systemic treatments for alopecia areata, alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis. A systematic search was conducted of the peer-reviewed literature published between 1946 and March 2018 via Medline, Embase, Amed, the Cochrane Ce…
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- ESCMID Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document on the safety of targeted and biological therapies: an infectious diseases perspective (Immune checkpoint inhibitors, cell adhesion inhibitors, sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulators and proteasome inhibitors). [Consensus Development Conference]
- CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should be aware of the risk of immune-related adverse effects and PML in patients receiving immune checkpoint and cell adhesion inhibitors respectively.
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- Systemic pharmacological treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis: a network meta-analysis. [Review]
- CONCLUSIONS: Our review shows that compared to placebo, the biologics ixekizumab, secukinumab, brodalumab, guselkumab, certolizumab, and ustekinumab are the best choices for achieving PASI 90 in people with moderate to severe psoriasis on the basis of moderate- to high-certainty evidence. At class level, the biologic treatments anti-IL17, anti-IL12/23, anti-IL23, and anti-TNF alpha were significantly more effective than the small molecules and the conventional systemic agents, too. This NMA evidence is limited to induction therapy (outcomes were measured between 12 to 16 weeks after randomisation) and is not sufficiently relevant for a chronic disease. Moreover, low numbers of studies were found for some of the interventions, and the young age (mean age of 44 years) and high level of disease severity (PASI 20 at baseline) may not be typical of patients seen in daily clinical practice.Another major concern is that short-term trials provide scanty and sometimes poorly reported safety data and thus do not provide useful evidence to create a reliable risk profile of treatments. Indeed, we found no significant difference in the assessed interventions and placebo in terms of SAEs. Methotrexate appeared to have the best safety profile, but as the evidence was of very low to moderate quality, we cannot be sure of the ranking. In order to provide long-term information on the safety of the treatments included in this review, it will be necessary to evaluate non-randomised studies and postmarketing reports released from regulatory agencies as well.In terms of future research, randomised trials comparing directly active agents are necessary once high-quality evidence of benefit against placebo is established, including head-to-head trials amongst and between conventional systemic and small molecules, and between biological agents (anti-IL17 versus anti-IL23, anti-IL23 versus anti-IL12/23, anti-TNF alpha versus anti-IL12/23). Future trials should also undertake systematic subgroup analyses (e.g. assessing biological-naïve patients, baseline psoriasis severity, presence of psoriatic arthritis, etc.). Finally, outcome measure harmonisation is needed in psoriasis trials, and researchers should look at the medium- and long-term benefit and safety of the interventions and the comparative safety of different agents.
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- Old and New Biological Therapies for Psoriasis. [Review]
- Biological therapy became available for psoriasis with the introduction of alefacept at the beginning of this century. Up to then, systemic treatment options comprised small molecule drugs, targeting the immune system in a non-specific manner. The first biologics targeted T-cell activation and migration and served as an alternative to small molecules. However, significant improvement in outcome w…
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- Anti‑cytokine therapy for psoriasis - not only TNF‑α blockers. Overview of reports on the effectiveness of therapy with IL‑12/IL‑23 and T and B lymphocyte inhibitors. [Review]
- TNF‑α inhibitors - infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab - can be used in the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis, along with other inhibitors of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin‑12 (IL‑12) and IL‑23. This paper presents the results of research on the use of biological drugs other than the tumor necrosis factor blockers (TNF‑α), namely inhibitors of IL‑12 and IL‑…
- Biological therapies (immunomodulatory drugs), worsening of psoriasis and rebound effect: new evidence of similitude. [Review]
- CONCLUSIONS: As well as studied in other classes of drugs, the rebound effect of biologic agents supports the principle of similitude (primary action of the drugs followed by secondary action and opposite of the organism).
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- Graft Versus Host Disease After Liver Transplantation in Adults: A Case series, Review of Literature, and an Approach to Management. [Case Reports]
- CONCLUSIONS: Age older than 50 years and hepatocellular carcinoma appear to be risk factors for GVHD. Hepatitis C may be protective. High-dose steroids and calcineurin inhibitors are ineffective in the treatment of GVHD after LT. CD2-blockers and TNF-α antagonists appear promising. We propose a diagnostic algorithm to assist clinicians in managing adults with GVHD after LT.
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- Correlation Among Hypoglycemia, Glycemic Variability, and C-Peptide Preservation After Alefacept Therapy in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Analysis of Data from the Immune Tolerance Network T1DAL Trial. [Randomized Controlled Trial]
- In natural history studies, maintenance of higher levels of C-peptide secretion (a measure of endogenous insulin production) correlates with a lower incidence of major hypoglycemic events in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), but it is unclear whether this is also true for drug-induced C-peptide preservation.
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- A novel therapeutic paradigm for patients with extensive alopecia areata. [Review]
- Alopecia areata (AA) is a common, T-cell mediated, hair-centered skin disease that lacks efficacious, long-term therapies for extensive disease. Systemic immune suppressants are usually used, despite their nonspecific actions, often associated with substantial side effects. Although, the Th1 pathway was suggested as pivotal in the disease, recent studies suggest that Th2, Th9, phosphodiesterase (…
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- Can We Repurpose FDA-Approved Alefacept to Diminish the HIV Reservoir? [Journal Article]
- Current anti-retroviral treatment (ART) for HIV is effective in maintaining HIV at undetectable levels. However, cessation of ART results in immediate and brisk rebound of viremia to high levels. This rebound is driven by an HIV reservoir mainly enriched in memory CD4+ T cells. In order to provide any form of functional HIV Cure, elimination of this viral reservoir has become the focus of current…
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- Tailored treatment options for patients with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis: review of established and new biologic and small molecule therapies. [Review]
- The diverse clinical picture of PsA suggests the need to identify suitable therapies to address the different combinations of clinical manifestations. This review aimed to classify the available biologic agents and new small molecule inhibitors (licensed and nonlicensed) based on their proven efficacy in treating different clinical manifestations associated with psoriasis and PsA. This review pre…
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- Targeting memory T cells in type 1 diabetes. [Review]
- Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease that leads to progressive destruction of pancreatic beta cells. Compared to healthy controls, a characteristic feature of patients with T1D is the presence of self-reactive T cells with a memory phenotype. These autoreactive memory T cells in both the CD4(+) and CD8(+) compartments are likely to be long-lived, strongly responsive to antigenic …
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- Alefacept provides sustained clinical and immunological effects in new-onset type 1 diabetes patients. [Randomized Controlled Trial]
- CONCLUSIONS: In patients with newly diagnosed T1D, two 12-week courses of alefacept preserved C-peptide secretion, reduced insulin use and hypoglycemic events, and induced favorable immunologic profiles at 24 months, well over 1 year after cessation of therapy.
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- Use of Alefacept for Preconditioning in Multiply Transfused Pediatric Patients with Nonmalignant Diseases. [Clinical Trial]
- Transfusion-related alloimmunization is a potent barrier to the engraftment of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells in patients with nonmalignant diseases (NMDs). Memory T cells, which drive alloimmunization, are relatively resistant to commonly used conditioning agents. Alefacept, a recombinant leukocyte function antigen-3/IgG1 fusion protein, targets CD2 and selectively depletes memory versus na…
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- Unusual case of B cell lymphoma after immunosuppressive treatment for psoriasis. [Case Reports]
- Lymphomas may be induced by the systemic immunosuppressive therapies used to treat psoriasis, such as ciclosporin, methotrexate and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α blockers. The biologic agents currently used in psoriasis include alefacept, efalizumab, and the TNF-α antagonists etanercept, infliximab, and adalimumab. Infections and cancer are the main possible consequences of intended or unexpecte…
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