Inflammatory myopathies
RSS feedA genetic predisposition to muscle toxicity from checkpoint inhibitors?
Checkpoint inhibitors used in cancer treatment are likely to cause inflammatory myopathies and/or myocarditis. German and Swiss clinicians sought to identify risk factors for the occurrence of this muscle toxicity: 20 patient records, mostly elderly (average age 67), who had presented with myositis or myocarditis between 2017 and 2024 were analysed and compared with those … [Read more]
A French study on the muscular and cardiac toxicity of immune checkpoint inhibitors
French researchers have investigated the adverse effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors, which are latest-generation anti-cancer drugs: their research focused on the myotoxic and cardiotoxic effects of these molecules, data from the national health data system (SNDS) were screened and analysed for the period 2011-2022, based on 172,000 patients treated in France during this period, between … [Read more]
An alternative to statin use in cases of immune-mediated necrotising myopathy
Italian clinicians report the results of a study on the use of a new molecule, bempedoic acid, which has lipid-lowering properties but does not carry the risk of developing immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM): 10 patients with IMNMÂ positive for anti-HMGCR autoantibodies were included in an open-label study. All had received prednisone and immunosuppressants to control their … [Read more]
A case immune-mediated necrotising myopathy associated with tuberculosis
An Italian team reports a case of autoimmune necrotising myopathy occurring in the context of active tuberculosis in a 38-year-old migrant: the patient, originally from Bangladesh, had arrived in Italy via the Balkan route, he presented with the classic signs of active pulmonary tuberculosis but also with severe myalgia that had been developing for several … [Read more]
Mitochondrial abnormalities, a possible marker of unfavourable progression in inflammatory myopathies
The presence of mitochondrial abnormalities is now a criterion for the diagnosis of sporadic inclusion myositis. It is also a predictive marker of progression in other forms of inflammatory myopathies, according to a multicentre study involving researchers from the Institute of Myology (Paris): among 850 patients with myositis, 25 had COX-negative fibres (rate of 0.25 … [Read more]
Specific autoantibodies can predict response to treatment in dermatomyositis
French researchers have identified specific autoantibodies associated with myositis that may predict the response to treatment of dermatomyositis with Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors (JAKi): 39 children and adolescents with juvenile dermatomyositis were included in the study, all of whom were followed at the Necker-Enfants Malades Reference Center in Paris. A positive, complete, or partial response … [Read more]
The particularities of dermatomyositis on black skin
The prevalence of dermatomyositis is higher in people with dark skin. After analysing 100 cases published since 1951, Canadian authors note that for this population: the initial diagnosis is incorrect in 10% of cases, with myositis being confused with hypertrophic lichen planus, an allergic reaction, a skin infection, etc. dyschromia (hypo- or hyperpigmentation), associated in … [Read more]
New developments in the treatment of certain refractory inflammatory myositis
German clinicians report a case of antisynthetase syndrome (ASyS) treated with several biotherapies: the patient, aged 45, had ASyS with signs of joint, muscle (myositis) and respiratory (interstitial lung disease) disease, with the presence of autoantibodies directed against the Jo-1 antigen, an initial treatment with CAR-T cells directed against CD19 lymphocytes resulted in remission for … [Read more]
Towards a better understanding of the side effects associated with the use of CAR-T cells
German clinicians have studied adverse side effects in patients with autoimmune diseases who have received CAR-T cells targeting the CD19 antigen: 39 adult patients, including six with inflammatory myopathy of autoimmune origin, were selected for this retrospective study. 30 of them developed a cutaneous and/or renal intolerance syndrome within 10 days of CAR-T cell injection. … [Read more]
Clinical presentations of immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy need to be better recognised
American clinicians, including Andrew Mammen, the researcher behind the first descriptions of immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), take stock of this pathology and highlight its atypical forms: after recalling the usual framework of this myopathy characterised by muscle weakness and the positivity of autoantibodies against the SRP and/or HMGCR proteins, the authors have compiled the atypical … [Read more]
