Inhaled steroids associated with decreased macrophage markers in nonasthmatic individuals with sickle cell disease in a randomized trial

Risk of vaso-occlusive episodes in patients with sickle cell disease exposed to systemic corticosteroids: a comprehensive review

INTRODUCTION

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most frequent inherited disorder in the world. It is caused by a single amino acid mutation on the beta-globin chain, which lead to red blood cell deformation, haemolysis, and chronic inflammation. Clinical consequences are vaso-occlusives crisis, acute chest syndrome, thrombosis, infection, and chronic endothelial injury.

AREAS COVERED

Corticosteroids are an old therapeutic class, that are inexpensive and widely available, which can be administered in different forms. Their adverse effects are numerous and well-known. This class could appear to be useful in SCD treatment due to its anti-inflammatory effect. Moreover, corticosteroids remain an essential therapeutic class for many indications, besides SCD. Although specific adverse effects of corticosteroids have been suspected in SCD patients for decades, recent papers has reported strong evidence of specific and severe adverse effects in this population. Based on a literature review, we will discuss pathophysiological considerations, consequences, and practical use of corticosteroids in SCD.

EXPERT OPINION

High corticosteroid doses, for any indication , induce vaso-occlusive crises, acute chest syndrome, and re-hospitalization in patients with SCD. There is no evidence of any benefits of corticosteroid use in the SCD acute events. Prevention by hydroxyurea and/or red blood cell transfusion or exchange should be discussed when corticosteroid use is indispensable.

SIRT1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with corticosteroid sensitivity in primary immune thrombocytopenia patients

BACKGROUND

Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by decreased platelet count. While corticosteroids are a useful first-line therapy for ITP patients, their long-term effectiveness is limited, and the determinants of corticosteroid sensitivity in ITP patients remain largely unknown. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a member of the mammalian sirtuin family, is related to the anti-inflammatory effects of corticosteroids. Here, we investigate the contribution of the SIRT1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs12778366 and rs4746720 to ITP susceptibility.

METHODS

We recruited 330 ITP patients and 309 healthy controls from Han population, and performed genotyping of SIRT1 rs12778366 and rs4746720 using a MassARRAY system. The results were validated in another 55 ITP patients from ethnic minorities.

RESULTS

Using clinical data of patients and controls from Han polulation, including corticosteroid sensitivity, susceptibility, refractoriness, and severity, our results revealed that the CC/TC genotypes of SIRT1 rs12778366 were associated with a 2.034-fold increased risk of corticosteroid resistance compared to the homozygous major TT genotype (dominant, CC/TC vs. TT, OR = 2.034, 95% CI = 1.039-3.984, p = 0.038). In contrast, the CC/CT genotype of SIRT1 rs4746720 showed a 0.560-fold decreased risk of corticosteroid resistance (dominant, 95% CI = 0.321-0.976, OR = 0.560, p = 0.041). The C allele substitute in SIRT1 rs12778366 was significantly associated with the corticosteroid sensitivity of ITP patients (p = 0.021). The similar results were obtained in minority ITP patients.

CONCLUSION

This study indicates that SIRT1 rs12778366 and rs4746720 may be genetic factors related to corticosteroid sensitivity in ITP patients.

Convergence of Inflammatory Pathways in Allergic Asthma and Sickle Cell Disease

The underlying pathologies of sickle cell disease and asthma share many characteristics in terms of respiratory inflammation. The principal mechanisms of pulmonary inflammation are largely distinct, but activation of common pathways downstream of the initial inflammatory triggers may lead to exacerbation of both disease states. The altered inflammatory landscape of these respiratory pathologies can differentially impact respiratory pathogen susceptibility in patients with sickle cell disease and asthma. How these two distinct diseases behave in a comorbid setting can further exacerbate pulmonary complications associated with both disease states and impact susceptibility to respiratory infection. This review will provide a concise overview of how asthma distinctly affects individuals with sickle cell disease and how pulmonary physiology and inflammation are impacted during comorbidity.

Identifying Clinical and Research Priorities in Sickle Cell Lung Disease. An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report

Background: Pulmonary complications of sickle cell disease (SCD) are diverse and encompass acute and chronic disease. The understanding of the natural history of pulmonary complications of SCD is limited, no specific therapies exist, and these complications are a primary cause of morbidity and mortality.Methods: We gathered a multidisciplinary group of pediatric and adult hematologists, pulmonologists, and emergency medicine physicians with expertise in SCD-related lung disease along with an SCD patient advocate for an American Thoracic Society-sponsored workshop to review the literature and identify key unanswered clinical and research questions. Participants were divided into four subcommittees on the basis of expertise: 1) acute chest syndrome, 2) lower airways disease and pulmonary function, 3) sleep-disordered breathing and hypoxia, and 4) pulmonary vascular complications of SCD. Before the workshop, a comprehensive literature review of each subtopic was conducted. Clinically important questions were developed after literature review and were finalized by group discussion and consensus.Results: Current knowledge is based on small, predominantly observational studies, few multicenter longitudinal studies, and even fewer high-quality interventional trials specifically targeting the pulmonary complications of SCD. Each subcommittee identified the three or four most important unanswered questions in their topic area for researchers to direct the next steps of clinical investigation.Conclusions: Important and clinically relevant questions regarding sickle cell lung disease remain unanswered. High-quality, multicenter, longitudinal studies and randomized clinical trials designed and implemented by teams of multidisciplinary clinician-investigators are needed to improve the care of individuals with SCD.

Emerging disease-modifying therapies for sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease afflicts millions of people worldwide and approximately 100,000 Americans. Complications are myriad and arise as a result of complex pathological pathways ‘downstream’ to a point mutation in DNA, and include red blood cell membrane damage, inflammation, chronic hemolytic anemia with episodic vaso-occlusion, ischemia and pain, and ultimately risk of cumulative organ damage with reduced lifespan of affected individuals. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s 2014 evidence-based guideline for sickle cell disease management states that additional research is needed before investigational curative therapies will be widely available to most patients with sickle cell disease. To date, sickle cell disease has been cured by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in approximately 1,000 people, most of whom were children, and significantly ameliorated by gene therapy in a handful of subjects who have only limited follow-up thus far. During a timespan in which over 20 agents were approved for the treatment of cystic fibrosis by the Food and Drug Administration, similar approval was granted for only two drugs for sickle cell disease (hydroxyurea and L-glutamine) despite the higher prevalence of sickle cell disease. This trajectory appears to be changing, as the lack of multimodal agent therapy in sickle cell disease has spurred engagement among many in academia and industry who, in the last decade, have developed new drugs poised to prevent complications and alleviate suffering. Identified therapeutic strategies include fetal hemoglobin induction, inhibition of intracellular HbS polymerization, inhibition of oxidant stress and inflammation, and perturbation of the activation of the endothelium and other blood components (e.g. platelets, white blood cells, coagulation proteins) involved in the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease. In this article, we present a crash-course review of disease-modifying approaches (minus hematopoietic stem cell transplant and gene therapy) for patients with sickle cell disease currently, or recently, tested in clinical trials in the era following approval of hydroxyurea.