Scleroderma

The Scleroderma Research Foundation has reported that researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have discovered that some cases of Scleroderma are likely to have been initiated by Cancer.  In a landmark paper published in Science, researchers focusing on a select group of patients with both Scleroderma and Cancer, discovered that the patients' immune response to a mutated protein in their tumors resulted in autoimmunity once the immune response spread to the non-mutated form of the protein. This major insight into the origins of autoimmunity in Scleroderma may also have ramifications for other autoimmune diseases.

Using mice, lab-grown cells and clues from a related disorder, Johns Hopkins researchers have greatly increased understanding of the causes of Systemic Sclerosis, showing that a critical culprit is a defect in the way certain cells communicate with their structural scaffolding. They say the new insights point the way toward potentially developing drugs for the disease.

"Until now we've had little insight and no effective treatment strategies for Systemic Sclerosis, and many patients die within a year of diagnosis," says Hal Dietz, the Victor A. McKusick Professor of Genetics and Medicine in the Institute of Genetic Medicine and director of the Smilow Center for Marfan Syndrome Research at Johns Hopkins. "Our group created mouse models that allowed us to learn about the sequence of events that leads to the disease's symptoms, and we hope drugs can be developed that target one or more of these events." The Dietz team's results are described in the Oct. 10 issue of Nature.

In a world first, Italian rheumatologists have discovered why women living with Systemic Sclerosis often suffer from a low sex drive. The study of 22 women with systemic sclerosis found the disease resulted in a lack of blood flow around the clitoris compared to healthy controls.

Reduced blood flow down below was particularly evident in women with a history of digital ulcers and capillaroscopic damage, the researchers from the Sapienza University in Rome found.

NeoStem, as a leader in the emerging cellular therapy industry, announced that it had received an award under the Small Business Innovative Research Program of $147,765 for the “Development of Adult Pluripotent Very Small Embryonic Like (VSEL) Stem Cells to Treat Skin Wounds in Scleroderma” from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH-NIAMS). This award will fund studies to investigate the potential of very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs™) in treating difficult to heal wounds in an animal model of Scleroderma.