 The following information on studies and related
articles in popular and scientific publications is provided as a
monthly resource to patients and professionals seeking up-to-date information on sarcoidosis. While results from individual studies may be encouraging, readers
should keep in mind that additional studies may be needed to
verify findings. Bookmark this page and check back each month!
FSR's Research Grants Program is the nation's first
privately funded program for sarcoidosis research. Learn more about FSR
funded research.
| 14 Oct
2010 |
Conformational
fingerprinting of the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE). 1.
Application in sarcoidosis. J Proteome Res. 2010 Nov
5;9(11):5782-93. Epub 2010 Oct 14.
Researchers looking at angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE),
attempted to determine whether a more sensitive marker of ACE
conformation could be cell- and tissue-specific. They
found that patients with sarcoidosis exhibited conformational
fingerprints of tissue ACE (lungs and lymph nodes), as well as
blood ACE, which were distinct from controls. If it is
possible to detect if ACE originated from the cells other than
endothelial cells in the blood and combined this information
with elevated blood ACE levels in patients with sarcoidosis, the
results could potentially be used to diagnose extrapulmonary
sarcoidosis involvement (bone marrow, spleen, liver).
|
| 1
Sept 2010 |
Clinical Features of
Sarcoid Rhinosinusitis. Am J Med. 2010
Sep;123(9):856-862.
Researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center
attempted to determine whether clinical features were useful
predictors of sarcoid rhinosinusitis in a general populations of
patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. Twenty sarcoid
rhinosinusitis were compared to 16 patients with chronic
rhinosinusitis. The majority of the study group was
African-American (61%) and female (69%) and had pulmonary
sarcoidosis (67%) and other forms of extrapulmonary sarcoidosis
in addition to sarcoid rhinosinusitis (86%). They conclude that
chronic rhinosinusitis and two of the following: nasal crusting,
anosmia or epistaxis are highly specific for sarcoid
rhinosinusitis. Even in the absence of an established
diagnosis of sarcoidosis, sinonasal biopsy should be considered
for diagnosis.
|
| 12
Aug 2010 |
Use of TNF blockers and
other targeted therapies in rare refractory immune-mediated
inflammatory diseases: evidence-based or rational? Ann
Rheum Dis. 2010 Aug 12. [Epub ahead of print]
Evidence-based medicine implies that clinical decision making
should be based on available external research including
randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The development of powerful
but often expensive targeted therapies for immune-mediated
inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) is one of the major successes of
evidence-based medicine but, paradoxically, also threatens the
traditional RCT-based approach. Indeed, the increasing
availability of these drugs decreases the number of patients
available for RCTs, questions the ethical basis for the use of
placebo groups and raises the issue of cost-efficacy. These
considerations become even more important in rare phenotypically
diverse and potentially life- or organ-threatening diseases like
sarcoidosis. Using the successful application of tumour necrosis
factor blockade in these diseases as an example, this review
defends the concept that pathophysiological insights in cellular
and molecular disease pathways as well as limited case series
are valid sources of external evidence for the rational use of
targeted therapies in these rare refractory conditions.
|
| 1
July 2010 |
Sarcoidosis in U.S.
black women: Data from the Black Women's Health Study.
Chest. 2010 Jul 1. [Epub ahead of print]
Saroidosis affects men and women of all races. Although data
suggests black women are most frequently and most severly
affected, few epidemiologic studies have focused on black women.
The Black Women's Health Study, a cohort of 59,000 black women
from across the United States has collected data on disease
through biennial questionnaires. The study showed 685
prevalent cases of sarcoidosis at baseline in 1995, and 435
incident cases reported for an average annual incidence rate of
71/100,000 and a current prevalence of 2.0%. This confirms
previous reports of high incidence and prevalence of sarcoidosis
among black women, as well as the extent of extra-pulmonary
disease, frequent need for steroid therapy, and co-morbid
conditions in this population.
|
| 1
June 2010 |
Quality of life in
patients with uveitis on chronic systemic immunosuppressive
treatment. Ocul Immunol Inflamm. 2010
Jun;18(3):247-54.
Researchers assessed 100 Italian patients (35 female, 65 male)
to assess health-related quality of life and found that those
with uveitis on chronic systemic immunosuppressants reported
markedly poorer general health status than normal matched
population subjects. Further, the quality of life of these
patients seemed to be significantly related to visual acuity and
disease duration.
|
| 1 May
2010 |
FSR Announces
Awards for Abstract Excellence Presented at the ATS Annual
Meeting in New Orleans
2009 Grant Recipients: Dia Beachboard (Vanderbilt
University), Jared Kravitz (MUSC)
Awarded through
the ATS Clinical Problems Assembly, Dr. Kravitz's research reviewed
the treatment for fungal infection among sarcoidosis patients.
Focused on disease mechanisms and awarded through the ATS
Asthma, Allergy and Immunology Assembly, Ms. Beachboards's
research investigated mycobacterial antigen recognition in BAL.
Meet FSR Funded
Researchers.
|
| 1 Apr
2010 |
Everyday Cognitive Failure
in Sarcoidosis: The Prevalence and the Effect of Anti-TNF-alpha
Treatment. Respiration. 2010 Apr 29. [Epub ahead of
print] Cognitive
symptoms, such as concentration problems, are frequently
recorded by sarcoidosis patients. The aim of this study
was to assess the prevalence of perceived everyday cognitive
failure in 343 sarcoidosis patients and an equal number of
age-sex matched healthy controls. The authors conclude that
subjective cognitive failure is a substantial problem in
sarcoidosis patients regardless of disease severity. Further,
anti-TNF-alpha therapy had a positive effect on cognition,
fatigue and other symptoms of sarcoidosis.
|
| 1 Mar
2010 |
ApoE-deficient mice on
cholate-containing high-fat diet reveal a pathology similar to
lung sarcoidosis. Am J Pathol. 2010
Mar;176(3):1148-56. Epub 2010 Jan 21.
The lack of an adequate animal model reflecting the pathogenesis
of the human disease is one of the major impediments in studying
sarcoidosis. In this report, the authors describe ApoE-/- mice
on a cholate-containing high-fat diet that exhibit granulomatous
lung inflammation similar to human sarcoidosis. The observed
similarities between the analyzed mouse lung granulomas and
granulomas of human sarcoidosis, as well as the chronic disease
character leading to fibrosis, suggest that this mouse model
might be a useful tool to study sarcoidosis.
|
| 26
Feb 2010 |
A genome-wide linkage
analysis in 181 German sarcoidosis families using clustered
bi-allelic markers. Chest. 2010 Feb 26. [Epub ahead
of print]
Researchers in Germany genotyped 528 members of 181 German
familiesand found one region of suggestive linkage on chromosome
12p13.31 at 20 cM and another linkage peak of nearly suggestive
linkage on 9q33.1 at 134 cM. The latter has been reported to
show suggestive evidence for linkage in a sample of 229
African-American families before. Analysis of acute and
chronically affected families revealed a subphenotype-specific
linkage pattern and an additional, nearly suggestive linkage
peak on chromosome 16p13.11 at 38 cM. Their results propose that
the respective regions might harbor yet unidentified, possibly
subphenotype-specific risk factors for the disease.
|
| 20
Jan 2010 |
Pharmacotherapy for
pulmonary sarcoidosis: a Delphi consensus study.
Respir Med. 2010 May;104(5):717-23. Epub 2010 Jan 20.
Most issues concerning pharmacotherapy of pulmonary sarcoidosis
have not been resolved in clinical trials. The objective of this
study was to survey sarcoidosis experts concerning the treatment
of pulmonary sarcoidosis and attempt to reach a consensus by
these experts using a Delphi method. Experts reached a
consensus concerning the following issues: (a) corticosteroids
are the initial therapy of choice; (b) initial use of inhaled
corticosteroids are not recommended; (c) methotrexate was the
preferred second-line drug; (d) 40mg of daily prednisone
equivalent was the maximum dose recommended for the treatment of
acute pulmonary sarcoidosis; (e) tapering to 10mg of daily
prednisone equivalent for chronic pulmonary sarcoidosis was
considered a successful taper. The experts could not resolve the
following issues: (a) the initial corticosteroid dose for the
treatment of acute pulmonary sarcoidosis; (b) the decision and
timing of corticosteroid therapy in a patient with mild, Stage 2
pulmonary sarcoidosis. This Delphi study revealed that
sarcoidosis experts reached a consensus concerning several
aspects of the treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Other issues
concerning the therapy of pulmonary sarcoidosis remain
unresolved by experts, and are areas where further clinical
research could be directed.
|
| 1 Jan
2010 |
Sarcoidosis in
World Trade Center rescue workers presenting with rheumatologic
manifestations. Clin Rheumatol. 2010 Jan;16(1):26-7.
The health consequences of the
World Trade Center collapse are unknown, but likely to be
significant and may take years to fully appreciate. The authors
describe two cases of sarcoidosis in rescue workers with
significant exposure from the World Trade Center collapse, who
presented with extrapulmonary rheumatologic manifestations.
These cases extend the spectrum of disorders resulting from the
World Trade Center disaster and illustrate the need for
clinicians to be aware of the diverse presentations of
sarcoidosis in this patient population.
|
| 1
Sept 2009 |
Fatigue in sarcoidosis: a
systematic review. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2009
Sep;15(5):499-506.
This review illustrates the importance of fatigue as an
under-recognized complication of sarcoidosis. It further
emphasizes the need for longitudinal prospective studies to
better define sarcoidosis fatigue, explore its impact on quality
of life, define aggravating or alleviating factors and evaluate
new potential treatment strategies.
|
| 13
Jul 2009 |
Cellular responses to
mycobacterial antigens are present in bronchoalveolar lavage
fluid used in the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Infect Immun.
2009 Sep;77(9):3740-8. Epub 2009 Jul 13.
Published evidence supports the concept that CD4(+) T cells are
important in sarcoidosis pathogenesis, but the antigens
responsible for the observed Th1 immunophenotype remain elusive.
The epidemiologic association with bioaerosols and the presence
of granulomatous inflammation support consideration of
mycobacterial antigens. To explore their the authors assessed
the immune recognition of mycobacterial antigens derived from
bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and propose a strong
association between mycobacteria and sarcoidosis pathogenesis.
|
| 1 May
2009 |
FSR Announces
Awards for Abstract Excellence Presented at the ATS Annual
Meeting in San Diego
2009 Grant Recipients: Ali Kanchwala (East Carolina University),
Tahuanty Pena, (Wayne State/Detroit Medical Center)
Awarded through
the ATS Clinical Problems Assembly, Dr. Pena's research reviewed
the risk of fungal infections among sarcoidosis patients.
Focused on disease mechanisms and awarded through the ATS
Asthma, Allergy and Immunology Assembly, Dr. Kanchwala's
research investigated the role of a specific antimicrobial
peptide, cathelicidin, in innate immune defenses.
Meet FSR Funded
Researchers.
|
| 1 Mar 2009 |
Neurosarcoidosis: a study of
30 new cases. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry.
2009 Mar; 80(3): 297-304.
This retrospective survey of case
records from nine hospitals in the UK over a 12 year period
evaluated outcomes for a cohort (group) of 30 patients with
neurosarcoidosis. Thirteen patients had biopsy confirmed
disease, making this one of the largest series of NS patients.
The authors found that the most frequent features were
headaches, visual failure, ataxia and vomiting. However,
their findings do not support previously reported associations
of seizures with a poor long-term outcome.
|
Additional articles can be found in the Research News Archive. |
