Treating CTDs related fibrotic ILDs by immunosuppressants: "facts and faults"

Potential Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease Treatment and Computational Approach for Future Drug Development

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by swelling in at least one joint. Owing to an overactive immune response, extra-articular manifestations are observed in certain cases, with interstitial lung disease (ILD) being the most common. Rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) is characterized by chronic inflammation of the interstitial space, which causes fibrosis and the scarring of lung tissue. Controlling inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis in RA-ILD is important because they are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Pirfenidone and nintedanib are specific drugs against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and showed efficacy against RA-ILD in several clinical trials. Immunosuppressants and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) with anti-fibrotic effects have also been used to treat RA-ILD. Immunosuppressants moderate the overexpression of cytokines and immune cells to reduce pulmonary damage and slow the progression of fibrosis. DMARDs with mild anti-fibrotic effects target specific fibrotic pathways to regulate fibrogenic cellular activity, extracellular matrix homeostasis, and oxidative stress levels. Therefore, specific medications are required to effectively treat RA-ILD. In this review, the commonly used RA-ILD treatments are discussed based on their molecular mechanisms and clinical trial results. In addition, a computational approach is proposed to develop specific drugs for RA-ILD.

Different chest HRCT scan protocols change the extent of ground glass opacities

BACKGROUND

Ground glass opacity (GGO) is the main HRCT feature representing alveolitis in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD), but may also represent other conditions such as atelectasis or edema. It is unclear how much this is affected by the HRCT scan protocol used. We aimed to compare the performance of three different HRCT protocols to evaluate the degree of SSc-ILD related changes.

METHODS

Eleven patients with SSc underwent chest HRCT scan by three different protocols: First, a supine scan after lying down for 15 minutes, then two scans in alternating order: A prone position scan, and a supine position scan after performing 10 deep breaths using a positive expiratory pressure (PEP) device. The HRCT scans were evaluated by the Warrick score system for ILD-related findings.

RESULTS

The three HRCT protocols were compared and resulted in different mean (95% CI) Warrick scores: 9.4 (5.3-13.4) in supine after rest; 7.5 (95% CI 3.8-11.1) in prone and 7.6 (95% CI 4.2-11.1) in supine after PEP. When comparing supine after rest to prone and supine after PEP, the latter two scans had a significantly lower score (p = 0.001 for both comparisons). In all cases, only sub-scores for ground glass opacities differed, while sub-scores for fibrosis-related changes did not change.

CONCLUSIONS

Different HRCT scan protocols significantly altered the Warrick severity score for SSc-ILD findings, primarily because of changes in ground glass opacities. These differences may be clinically meaningful.

Management of progressive pulmonary fibrosis associated with connective tissue disease

INTRODUCTION

: Fibrotic interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a frequent and severe complication of connective tissue disease (CTD).

AREAS COVERED

: In this narrative review, we update the most relevant differential characteristics of fibrotic ILD associated with CTD (CTD-ILD) and propose a diagnostic and therapeutic approach based on a review of the articles published between 2002 and 2022 through PubMed.

EXPERT OPINION

: The subset of ILD, mainly the radiological/histological pattern and the degree of fibrotic component, usually determines the prognosis and therapeutic strategy for these patients. Some patients with CTD-ILD can develop progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) with severe deterioration of lung function, rapid progression to chronic respiratory failure, and high mortality. PPF has been described in many CTDs, mainly in systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, and requires a multidisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic approach to improve patient outcomes.

Two sides of the same coin? A review of the similarities and differences between idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease

Rheumatoid arthritis associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are distinct diseases; however, they share several clinical, radiographic and genetic features. For instance, usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP), which is an ILD pattern required for a diagnosis of IPF, is also the most common ILD pattern in RA-ILD. The presence of UIP in RA-ILD is a poor prognostic sign with outcomes similar to those seen in IPF. The recent finding of a shared genetic susceptibility between IPF and RA-ILD has sparked additional interest in this relationship. This review outlines these similarities and differences in clinical presentation, appearance and outcomes in RA-ILD and IPF.In addition, this review highlights previous research in molecular biomarkers in both conditions, exploring areas of overlap and distinction. This focus on biomarkers in IPF and RA-ILD aims to highlight potential areas of discovery and clues to a potential shared pathobiology through investigation of novel molecular markers or the repurposing of biomarkers from one condition to the other.The drive to better understand RA-ILD by leveraging our knowledge of IPF is underscored by our divergent treatment paradigms for these conditions and the concern for potential harm. As a result of advancing our understanding of the links between IPF and RA-ILD, current strategies for diagnosis, screening and treatment of ILD may fundamentally change in the coming years. Until then, clinicians face difficult clinical questions regarding the co-management of the articular disease and the ILD in RA.

Quantification of Ground Glass Opacities Can Be Useful to Describe Disease Activity in Systemic Sclerosis

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the main cause of death in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Usually, patients have lung involvement characterized by ground glass opacities (GGOs), but honeycombing (HC) is also possible. The Wells score is a semi-quantitative index, which is able to assess ILD by distinguishing its main components. The aim of this work is to evaluate the Wells score in relation to the disease activity (DA) index. We enrolled 40 consecutive SSc-ILD patients (26 diffuse cutaneous form, dcSSc, and 14 limited form, lcSSc). All patients were evaluated by the European Scleroderma Study Group (ESSG) index, high-resolution computed tomography, transthoracic echocardiogram, pulmonary function tests (PTSs), and nailfold videocapillaroscopy for the number of microhemorrhages (NEMO) score. In our study, the total extent of ILD (TE-ILD), fibrosis and GGOs correlated with dyspnea (p = 0.03, 0.01 and 0.01 respectively), but not with the ESSG index. Considering only the dcSSc patients, TE-ILD and GGOs correlated with the ESSG index (r = 0.5 p = 0.009), while fibrosis grade correlated with disease duration and systolic pulmonary artery pressure. In conclusion, our data suggest that GGO correlates with DA, while fibrosis may be a sign of disease damage. The quantification of pulmonary involvement using the Wells score can be a useful tool for assessing the appropriate treatment in SSc patients.

Rituximab therapy is more effective than cyclophosphamide therapy for Japanese patients with anti-topoisomerase I-positive systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease

Systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) is the most frequent cause of death for SSc but there is still no sufficient treatment available. Although cyclophosphamide (CYC) therapy is a common treatment which has shown statistical efficacy against SSc-ILD to date, its effects are temporary and not enough. Rituximab (RTX), the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, has recently shown efficacy in many autoimmune diseases. In SSc-ILD, RTX is also considered to be one of the novel treatment candidates. However, studies of SSc-ILD in Japanese treated with RTX have only a few case reports. Therefore, in this study, we retrospectively compared nine patients treated with RTX and 30 patients treated with CYC to investigate the efficacy of RTX treatment for Japanese anti-topoisomerase I-positive SSc-ILD patients. At the 24-month evaluation, the improvement rates of percent predicted of forced vital capacity and percent predicted of diffusing capacity of the lung carbon monoxide in the RTX-treated group were significantly higher than those in the CYC-treated group (20.6 ± 8.8% vs 1.1 ± 3.9%; P < 0.05 and 34.0 ± 6.0% vs -1.5 ± 2.8%; P < 0.01, respectively). In addition, skin thickness scores also showed a marked improvement from 13.5 points before the start of treatment to 5.8 points after 24 months by RTX therapy (P < 0.05). These results suggest that RTX treatment is more effective for Japanese SSc-ILD patients than CYC treatment. In the future, it is expected that large-scale clinical trials will show the usefulness of RTX treatment for SSc-ILD.

Where are we going in the management of interstitial lung disease in patients with systemic sclerosis?

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) affects about 90% of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). It is associated with a restrictive lung disease in only 30% of patients and is progressive in an even lower percentage. A low forced vital capacity at presentation, an extent of lung fibrosis >20% as detected by lung high-resolution computed tomography, high serum interleukin-6 levels, anti-topoisomerase I antibody positivity and diffuse cutaneous SSc are each associated with SSc-ILD progression. However, no such association is absolute. Treating patients with a recent deterioration of lung function may allow to capture those with active disease. To date, cyclophosphamide (CYC) is the only drug found to stabilize or improve lung function in randomized clinical trials, but its small beneficial effect is short lived. Therefore, immunosuppressive maintenance therapy after CYC treatment is warranted. At present, however, the best therapeutical strategy after CYC therapy both in responders and in non-responders to CYC is still controversial. Based on a review of the literature, we suggest an approach to the management of SSc-ILD.