News

The bacterium Propionibacterium acnes may cause ocular sarcoidosis, as researchers have detected high levels of the pathogen in retinal granulomas of patients with the condition. These findings suggest that new therapies for the disease may include antibiotics targeting the infection. The study, “Immunohistochemical Detection of Propionibacterium acnes in the…

Researchers from Turkey’s Ege and Istinye Universities reported the coexistence of sarcoidosis and gouty arthritis in a 45-year-old man. Their study,  “Coexistence of Sarcoidosis and Gouty Arthritis.” appeared in the Spanish journal Reumatología Clínica. Sarcoidosis is a rare inflammatory disease characterized by the formation of granulomas in organs of…

Therapies used to treat pulmonary hypertension (PH), such as Revatio (sildenafil), provide only temporary benefit for patients with sarcoidosis-associated PH, according to a case report published in the journal Advances in Respiratory Medicine. The report demonstrates that such therapies fail to prevent disease progression and improve patients’ outcomes, highlighting the…

Treatment with medications for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) do not significantly help people with sarcoidosis-associated pulmonary hypertension (PH), researchers from France’s University of Paris-Sud reported. Their study, “Management and long-term outcomes of sarcoidosis-associated pulmonary hypertension,” — published in the European Respiratory Journal — showed that while PAH-drugs improved some disease…

Children’s National Health System no longer treats just kids. Its Rare Disease Institute, launched in April 2017, has partnered with the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) to become the first of many U.S. “centers of excellence” to look after patients with rare diseases, regardless of age. The effort…

More therapies are now available for the 30 million or so people with rare diseases in the U.S. than ever before, and millions of dollars are being invested in clinical studies that will test new ways of evaluating — and advancing — potential treatments, including the use of natural history…

A recent report in the journal Internal Medicine, published by the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine, described the unusual case of a 78-year-old woman who had a rare combination of pancreatic mass and nodules in the airways and lungs — all consistent with a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is characterized…

As Congress begins debate this week to overhaul the U.S. tax code, lawmakers should leave the Orphan Drug Act (ODA) — and the tax incentives it offers pharmaceutical companies to develop therapies for rare diseases — off the table. That’s the message being pushed by the National Organization for…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently awarded six research grants for natural history studies in rare diseases. One of the grants was awarded to Alicia Gerke, assistant professor of pulmonary, critical care, and occupational medicine at the University of Iowa. Gerke will receive approximately $300,000 over two…

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists are effective therapies in a significant proportion of patients with severe and refractory sarcoidosis, a new study shows. However, they also are associated with adverse events such as infections and allergic reactions. The study titled, “Efficacy and safety of tumor necrosis factor…