Active clinical trials for "Polymyositis"

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination treatment of tacrolimus and corticosteroid in polymyositis/dermatomyositis patients with interstitial pneumonitis with comparison against corticosteroid-treated historical controls.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an active rehabilitation program on disability and quality of life of patients affected by dermatomyositis and polymyositis.

Inflammatory myopathies are a group of muscle diseases characterized by muscle weakness, high levels of muscle enzymes in the blood, and inflammation of the tissue surrounding muscle fibers (endomysium). The diseases making up the inflammatory myopathies are grouped into three subsets: I) Polymyositis (PM) II) Dermatomyositis (DM) III) Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) Inflammatory myopathies are thought to be autoimmune processes and are treated with steroids and immunosuppressive drugs. However, many patients who initially respond to these treatments develop resistance to the therapy or experience side effects causing the treatments to be stopped. Researchers believe that intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) may provide patients with PM, DM, and IBM a safer and more effective alternative to standard therapies for the diseases. IVIg is a drug that has been used successfully to treat other immune-related diseases of the nervous system. The study will take 60 patients and divide them into two groups. Group one will receive 2 injections of IVIg once a month for three months. Group two will receive 2 injections of placebo "inactive injection of sterile water" once a month for three months. Following the three months of treatment, group one will begin taking the placebo and group two will begin taking IVIg for an additional 3 months. The drug will be considered effective if patients receiving it experience a significant improvement (>15%) in muscle strength.

This study will test the safety and effectiveness of the drug methimazole in treating polymyositis and dermatomyositis-inflammatory muscle diseases causing weakness and muscle wasting. Although it is not known what causes of these diseases, abnormal immune function is thought to be involved. Recent studies indicate that methimazole, which has been used for many years to treat thyroid disease, may alter immune activity by affecting the interaction between white blood cells called lymphocytes and certain molecules on cell surfaces. This study will examine the effects of methimazole on immune activity and muscle strength in patients with inflammatory muscle diseases and evaluate the drug side effects. Patients with polymyositis and dermatomyositis who have normal thyroid function may be eligible for this study [age requirement?]. Candidates will undergo a history and physical examination; blood and urine tests; chest X-ray; muscle strength testing, daily living skills questionnaire, and speech and swallowing evaluation; magnetic resonance imaging of muscles; and muscle biopsy (removal of a small piece of muscle tissue under local anesthetic). When indicated, some candidates may also have cancer screening tests (for example, mammogram, Pap smear), a lung function test to measure breathing capacity, or an electromyogram, in which small needles are inserted into a muscle to measure the electrical activity . Participants will take 30 mg of methimazole by mouth twice a day for 6 months. They will have blood tests weekly for the first 2 weeks and then every other week for the rest of the study to measure blood counts and liver and thyroid function. Blood will also be drawn for white blood cell studies during the screening evaluation, at the beginning of therapy, 6 to 12 weeks after therapy starts, at the end of the 6-month treatment period, and 1 and 3 months after therapy ends. Muscle enzyme and urine tests will be done once a month.. During drug treatment, patients will have periodic physical examinations and blood and muscle function tests to evaluate the response to therapy.

This is an open-label study to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of KZR-616 in patients with active PM or DM who completed the double-blind treatment period of Study KZR-616-003, up to and including the Week 32 Visit, prior to the first dose of open-label KZR-616.

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will carry out to assess the efficacy of GB-0998 in the treatment of the steroid-resistant polymyositis and dermatomyositis based on the changes in manual muscle strength (MMT) scores as primary endpoint, and in addition, to assess the safety of GB-0998.

Rituximab is a man-made antibody used to treat certain types of cancer. This study will determine whether rituximab is an effective treatment for adult and pediatric patients with dermatomyositis or polymyositis. Study hypotheses: 1) The time to improvement in Group A patients (receiving rituximab first) will occur significantly earlier than in Group B patients (receiving rituximab later). 2) The proportion of patients improved at Week 8 of the treatment phase will be significantly greater in Group A than in Group B.

The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the study drug, ACTH Gel in people diagnosed with dermatomyositis a disease that causes muscle weakness and is associated with a rash (DM) or polymyositis (PM) a disease that causes muscle weakness without a rash. The study doctors want to evaluate whether ACTH Gel will improve the symptoms of this disease. This drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM). ACTH gel has been an FDA-approved treatment for myositis since 1952, and in 2010 the FDA retained PM and DM as diseases approved for ACTH gel use.

The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of abatacept in patients with Dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) refractory to conventional treatment using a randomised trial design with delayed start in one arm. Abatacept will be administered intravenously to participants at a dose based on body weight at the screening visit followed by six follow-up treatments (Active treatment arm). Abatacept will also be administered intravenously to participants at a dose based on body weight starting at 3 months followed by six follow-up treatments (Delayed-onset treatment arm). The International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS) preliminary definition of improvement (DOI) will be used for assessment.

To investigate the effect of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) blocking agent, anakinra, in patients with treatment-resistant inflammatory myopathies. Patients and methods: Fifteen patients with refractory polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM), or inclusion body myositis (IBM) were treated with 100 mg anakinra subcutaneously per day during 12 months. Outcome measures included myositis disease activity score with improvement defined according to The International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS) and for muscle performance the functional index of myositis (FI). In addition repeat muscle biopsies were performed