Active clinical trials for "Nephritis"

The primary objective is to test the safety and efficacy of Velcade to induce remission in WHO class III/IV/V lupus nephritis that are refractory to standard medications.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy of blisibimod as measured by a composite responder index in subjects who, despite corticosteroid use, continue to have autoantibody positive, clinically-active Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) as defined by SELENA SLEDAI score ≥10.

The investigators goal is to evaluate the role of XOLAIR® in treatment of Acute Tubulointerstitial Nephritis (AIN) with the goal of shortening the duration and dose of prednisone for treatment of drug-induced AIN. Currently there is no good treatment for drug-induced AIN. Prednisone is the standard treatment but is associated with many side-effects when used long-term and at high doses.

This is an open-label, randomized, multi-center, Phase IV study of Acthar Gel in patients with biopsy-proven membranous (Class V) lupus nephritis (LN) aimed at providing proof-of-concept data that Acthar is a safe and effective therapy for membranous LN. Class V LN is a secondary form of membranous nephropathy, and occurs in 8-20% of patients with LN. Two different doses of Acthar Gel will be tested. The active intervention phase of this study will take place over 6 months, and follow-up will occur over the following 6 months. Efficacy and safety of the use of Acthar Gel for treatment of membranous LN will be assessed and analyzed throughout the course of the study by laboratory testing, physical exams, and other evaluation tools. Subjects will be closely monitored for adverse effects associated with the use of Acthar gel and if necessary study drug dosing will be reduced. The anticipated benefits to subjects are a complete renal response rate of 40% at 6 months showing superiority over the published complete remission rates of the currently used immunosuppressive therapies, and no unexpected toxicity signals. Pure Class V LN affects a significant number of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and although it is less aggressive than proliferative forms of LN it still causes important renal and non-renal morbidity and mortality over time, especially in patients who remain nephrotic. The therapy of Class V LN is not clear, and currently used therapies are highly toxic because of immunosuppression, risk of infertility, and risk of future malignancy. Additionally, these therapies are only modestly effective in inducing remissions of Class V LN. There is thus an unmet need for a more effective and less toxic treatment for Class V LN.

This is a 5-year project, involving 185 partners from 46 countries (110 in 21 EU States and 75 in 25 extra-EU States), with a randomised clinical trials (RCT) in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE): 5-year phase III single-blind, RCT in children with newly diagnosed, WHO class III, IV JSLE proliferative nephritis: PDN and oral cyclophosphamide (CYC) versus high dose intravenous (iv) CYC versus intermediate dose iv CYC, followed by maintenance with azathioprine.The trial is aimed to find out the treatment regimen associated with the lowest occurrence of flare and the lowest drug related toxicity.

This is a Phase III, multicenter, extension study to evaluate the safety of rituximab administered on a scheduled basis approximately every 6 months. All subjects who complete their Week 52 visit in Study U2970g will be eligible for this study, as long as the inclusion and exclusion criteria are met.

Glomerulonephritis is an important manifestation in about 1/2 of patients with Systemic Lupus Nephritis (SLE; lupus). Despite recent national guidelines recommending use of induction therapy with high-dose corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents, followed by prolonged maintenance therapy, up to 1/3 of these patients continue to have active nephritis and ongoing protein in the urine (proteinuria). It has long been recognized that both the level and chronicity of proteinuria in patients with lupus nephritis are associated with disease severity and with long-term prognosis, including the possibility of progression to complete kidney failure, which may occur in about 1/4 of patients. Pentoxifylline (PTX) is an oral medication introduced 45 years ago for treatment of vascular insufficiency. It has also recently been found to reduce proteinuria in patients with diabetic nephropathy. The mechanism of this unexpected and intriguing finding is not certain, but may in part involve inhibiting the production of TNF-alpha, an inflammatory cytokine known to be present in urine and kidneys of patients with lupus nephritis. Our hypothesis is that this inexpensive, generic drug, PTX, can significantly reduce proteinuria in patients with lupus nephritis. To test this hypothesis, we plan to initiate a 6-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial of PTX or placebo in 40 patients with active lupus nephritis. This trial will include 6-8 patients from each of 5 different academic medical centers that specialize in the treatment of lupus nephritis. Our primary objective of this trial will be to measure urine protein each month to determine the extent to which PTX is able to reduce urine protein, and how rapidly this occurs. Concurrently, we will carefully follow these patients each month to determine whether PTX administration is also associated with stabilization of renal function, or with improvement in other manifestations of lupus, such as clinical disease activity or abnormal laboratory findings. A major secondary objective will be to explore the possible mechanism(s) whereby PTX reduces proteinuria. For this purpose, we will use the monthly urine specimens to measure TNF-alpha, and levels of several other proteins (IL-1, IL-6, IL-2, MCP-1, TGF-beta, PDGF, and IFN-alpha) that have been shown to contribute to inflammation and scarring in lupus nephritis. Comparison of levels of these inflammatory proteins with level of protein in the urine should help us to determine whether one or more of these proteins is a contributor to the severity or persistence of lupus nephritis. This information may also allow us to learn whether repeated measurements of these proteins can serve as biomarkers to assist in the ongoing management of patients with lupus nephritis. Finally, we hope to eventually measure levels of these inflammatory proteins in blood samples from the patients, to determine if PTX treatment can suppress (or enhance) such levels, and whether these changes are associated with reduced lupus disease activity, or improvement in other manifestations of lupus. Ultimately, it is our hope that the data from this clinical trial using a generic repurposed drug will permit us to conclusively confirm that PTX can significantly reduce proteinuria in patients with lupus nephritis, which would be of great benefit for the thousands of people who suffer with this most severe type of lupus.

There is debate as to whether long-term low-dose steroids such as prednisolone help to suppress relapses of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in patients who are in remission from their lupus nephritis. If low-dose prednisolone reduces relapses, these beneficial effects may be counter-balanced by the long-term side-effects associated with prednisolone. This pilot study will determine the feasibility of conducting a larger randomized control trial that will answer the question of whether or not long-term low-dose prednisolone (5 - 7.5 mg/day) reduces the flares of SLE in patients with previous lupus nephritis.

Meta-analyses in adults suggest equivalence of clinical efficacy of intravenous cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate mofetil when dosed based on patient weight or body-surface-area (MMFBSA), as is the current standard for the treatment of proliferative lupus nephritis (LN) treatments in the U.S. Pharmacokinetically-guided precision dosing of MMF (MMFPK) may offer a beneficial modification of the current standard treatment in that MMKPK promises over 30% higher LN response rates than MMFBSA. The objective of the proposed randomized, controlled study is to compare the efficacy and safety of pharmacokinetically-guided precision dosing of MMF (MMFPK) with conventional dosing regimens of MMF (MMFBSA) among children with proliferative LN.

The treatment of lupus nephritis with cyclophosphamide and steroids changed the prognosis of lupus nephritis in the early '80s. In recent years, alternative regimens have appeared in both the induction and maintenance with similar results at least to those offered by the classic pattern and possibly with fewer side effects, especially for long term. The association of prednison and mycophenolate has created large expectations to that effect, and is part of first-line therapeutic arsenal of lupus nephritis type III, IV and V. Despite the significant advances that have led to these treatments, the likelihood of complete remission after six months remains, according to the series of 8-13% and partial remission do not exceed 60% in papers published. In the last year, two articles have been published supporting the use of triple therapy (prednisone, mycophenolate, cyclosporine) in poor prognosis of lupus nephritis with hopefully better results than those obtained previously. In this study we try to compare the effectiveness of triple therapy, the therapy is now considered standard (prednisone, mycophenolate) in patients with lupus nephritis type III-IV-V