BACKGROUND We observed a syndrome of intermittent fevers, early-onset lacunar strokes and other neurovascular manifestations, livedoid rash, hepatosplenomegaly, and systemic vasculopathy in three unrelated patients. We suspected a genetic cause because the disorder presented in early childhood. METHODS We performed whole-exome sequencing in the initial three patients and their unaffected parents and candidate-gene sequencing in three patients with a similar phenotype, as well as two young siblings with polyarteritis nodosa and one patient with small-vessel vasculitis. Enzyme assays, immunoblotting, immunohistochemical testing, flow cytometry, and cytokine profiling were performed on samples from the patients. To study protein function, we used morpholino-mediated knockdowns in zebrafish and short hairpin RNA knockdowns in U937 cells cultured with human dermal endothelial cells. RESULTS All nine patients carried recessively inherited mutations in CECR1 (cat eye syndrome chromosome region, candidate 1), encoding adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA2), that were predicted to be deleterious; these mutations were rare or absent in healthy controls. Six patients were compound heterozygous for eight CECR1 mutations, whereas the three patients with polyarteritis nodosa or small-vessel vasculitis were homozygous for the p.Gly47Arg mutation. Patients had a marked reduction in the levels of ADA2 and ADA2-specific enzyme activity in the blood. Skin, liver, and brain biopsies revealed vasculopathic changes characterized by compromised endothelial integrity, endothelial cellular activation, and inflammation. Knockdown of a zebrafish ADA2 homologue caused intracranial hemorrhages and neutropenia — phenotypes that were prevented by coinjection with nonmutated (but not with mutated) human CECR1. Monocytes from patients induced damage in cocultured endothelial-cell layers. CONCLUSIONS Loss-of-function mutations in CECR1 were associated with a spectrum of vascular and inflammatory phenotypes, ranging from early-onset recurrent stroke to systemic vasculopathy or vasculitis. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Programs and others.)

In adults, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are found in vivo at low frequency and are defined by their capacity to differentiate into bone, cartilage, and adipose tissue, depending on the stimuli and culture conditions under which they are expanded. Although MSCs were initially hypothesized to be the panacea for regenerating tissues, MSCs appear to be more important in therapeutics to regulate the immune response invoked in settings such as tissue injury, transplantation, and autoimmunity. MSCs have been used therapeutically in clinical trials and subsequently in practice to treat graft-versus-host disease following bone marrow transplantation. Reports of successful immune modulation suggest efficacy in a wide range of autoimmune conditions, such as demyelinating neurological disease (multiple sclerosis), systemic lupus erythematosus, and Crohn's disease, among others. This review provides background information about hMSCs and also describes their putative mechanisms of action in inflammation. We provide a summary of ongoing clinical trials to allow (a) full comprehension of the range of diseases in which hMSC therapy may be beneficial and (b) identification of gaps in our knowledge about the mechanisms of action of therapeutic MSCs in disease.

Objectives Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a major cause of pain and limited function in older adults. Longer-term studies of medical therapy of OA are uncommon. This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy and safety of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate (CS), alone or in combination, as well as celecoxib and placebo on painful knee OA over 24 months. Methods A 24-month, double-blind, placebo controlled study, conducted at 9 sites in the United States ancillary to the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), enrolled 662 patients with knee OA who satisfied radiographic criteria (Kellgren/ Lawrence [K/L] grade 2 or grade 3 changes and JSW of at least 2 mm at baseline). Patients who had been randomized to 1 of the 5 groups in GAIT continued to receive glucosamine 500 mg 3 times daily, CS 400 mg 3 times daily, the combination of glucosamine and CS, celecoxib 200 mg daily, or placebo over 24 months. The primary outcome measure was the number who reached a 20% reduction in WOMAC pain over 24 months. Secondary outcomes included reaching an OMERACT/OARSI response and change from baseline in WOMAC pain and function. Results The odds of achieving a 20%WOMAC were 1.21 for celecoxib, 1.16 for glucosamine, 0.83 for glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate and 0.69 for chondroitin sulfate alone with widely overlapping confidence intervals for all treatments. Conclusions Over 2 years, no treatment achieved a clinically important difference in WOMAC Pain or Function as compared with placebo. However, glucosamine and celecoxib showed beneficial trends. Adverse reactions were not meaningfully different among treatment groups and serious adverse events were rare for all therapies.

Objective. Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee causes significant morbidity and current medical treatment is limited to symptom relief, while therapies able to slow structural damage remain elusive. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate (CS), alone or in combination, as well as celecoxib and placebo on progressive loss of joint space width (JSW) in patients with knee OA.

Methods. Eligible patients had been diagnosed by site rheumatologists (termed the "MD diagnosis") since 2004. This diagnosis was used as a reference standard for sensitivity and specificity testing of the 2 WG classification criteria. Descriptive analyses were confined to ACR-classified WG patients.Results. MD diagnoses of 117 patients (82 of whom were female) were WG (n ‫؍‬ 76), microscopic polyangiitis (n ‫؍‬ 17), ANCA-positive pauci-immune glomerulonephritis (n ‫؍‬ 5), Churg-Strauss syndrome (n ‫؍‬ 2), and unclassified vasculitis (n ‫؍‬ 17). The sensitivities of the ACR and EULAR/PRES classification criteria for WG among the spectrum of AAVs were

IntroductionAtacicept is a soluble, fully human, recombinant fusion protein that inhibits B cell-stimulating factors APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) and BLyS (B-lymphocyte stimulator). The APRIL- LN study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of atacicept in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN), receiving newly initiated corticosteroids (CS) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).MethodsThis was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II/III, 52-week study. At screening (Day -14), patients initiated high-dose CS (the lesser of 0.8 mg/kg/day or 60 mg/day prednisone) and MMF (1 g daily, increased by 1 g/day each week to 3 g daily). From Day 1, atacicept (150 mg, subcutaneously, twice weekly for 4 weeks, then weekly) was initiated with MMF along with a tapered dose of CS.ResultsThe trial was terminated after the enrollment of six patients, due to an unexpected decline in serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and the occurrence of serious infections. Efficacy was thus not evaluated. By Day 1, serum IgG levels had declined substantially in patients then randomized to atacicept (n = 4) compared with placebo (n = 2). Patients receiving atacicept also had more severe proteinuria on Day -14 than those on placebo. Lymphocyte counts were low at screening in all patients. IgG decline continued following initiation (Day 1) of atacicept. Three atacicept-treated patients developed serum IgG below the protocol-defined discontinuation threshold of 3 g/l, two of whom developed serious pneumonia.ConclusionsFuture studies are needed to characterize the safety, efficacy, and pharmacodynamic response of atacicept in LN patients.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00573157

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