Systemic lupus erythematosus or systemic lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system of patients becomes disrupted and turns against the body’s own cells. In the United States, 5 patients aged 18 to 24 who all had a form of lupus resistant to usually prescribed drugs (such as the famous hydroxycholoquine) no longer showed any symptoms of their disease, after having received an experimental treatment.
These 5 patients now seem to be in remission, after having received a treatment, called CAR-T cell therapy, intended to “reset” their immune system. This therapy has already been used in the treatment of cancer but is still being studied for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
In remission for 17 months
Immunologists at the University of Nuremberg (Germany) took T lymphocytes from each patient and genetically modified the cells to find and kill all the antibody-producing cells before re-injecting them into the patients. Their symptoms all improved, and none of them showed any signs of lupus-related internal damage 17 months later. Importantly, the patients’ autoantibodies apparently disappeared as well and did not return once their B cells began to replenish 100 days later. Since then, the patients no longer needed to take any treatment for lupus.
This discovery concerns for the moment only a very small sample of patients and no one knows how long the remission will last. But it paves the way for cell therapy in the treatment of lupus. The German researchers will also start another study which will include other autoimmune diseases (such as myositis and systemic sclerosis) in order to advance the research.
Source : Anti-CD19 CAR T cell therapy for refractory systemic lupus erythematosusNature medicine, September 2022
