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Another new one in the very early stages...


Drug may offer relief from Crohn's disease

From Associated Press - November 15, 2004

An experimental drug that selectively tamps down part of the immune system can offer dramatic relief to many victims of the painful bowel disorder Crohn's disease, and might also work against illnesses such as arthritis and multiple sclerosis, researchers have found.

Other drugs are already available against Crohn's, but their effectiveness is spotty. This is the first study to show that a certain immune system protein could be key to the poorly understood disease.

In the small, preliminary study, researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other sites found weekly injections of ABT-874 reduced symptoms in as many as three-fourths of patients, or three times better than dummy injections.

"A lot of work has to be done, but it's very exciting," said Dr. Richard MacDermott, director of Albany Medical Center's inflammatory bowel disease center and scientific consultant to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America.

An estimated 500,000 to 1 million Americans have the disorder. There is no cure. The study was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/ ... nes-health

Oh, Hey, dignan!

Something coming out from the "protein" research, it appears! That's hopeful! Hasn't it been the Mayo folks who were also doing some research on the proteins? It seems like I have read that the "selective" protein avenue (i.e. modification of the immune system via selective influence on specific cytokines) was a fairly promising focus for MS.

This is similar also, to what Baylor was trying to come up with for a "vaccine" for MS (even though I'm not certain how close anybody really is regarding a "vaccine"), but the fact that they were attempting this same type of selective protein/cytokine/T cell modification was interesting.

I guess I didn't realize they were so close to achieving reasonable success!

I'll watch for more on this one. Thanks!

Deb

Yep.......that's what I was thinking it was!

Here's an excerpt from a press release I just now found from Abbott, dated November 10, 2004:

"....About ABT–874 and IL–12
ABT–874 is an investigational agent designed to target and neutralize interleukin–12 (IL–12), a protein that regulates inflammatory response. IL–12 is associated with a number of chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorders, including Crohn's disease. ABT–874 is currently in phase II studies for multiple sclerosis (MS)." ....

http://abbott.com/news/releaseonly.cfm?id=852

I have no comment whatsoever, though, about the additional clinical trial data they refer to in that same press release, but the mechanism of action of the agent is as I suspected.

You might recall how often I refer to the individual cytokines (IL this, and IL that. ) Personally, this avenue of research (at least for inflammatory types of MS and other diseases) feels and appears much more solid in my opinion.

Again, interesting news, dignan!

Deb

EDIT: Uh oh.......this one has me "digging" again. The NEJM says (excerpt from abstract at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/351/20/2069 :

"....Decreases in the secretion of interleukin-12, interferon-y, and tumor necrosis factor a by mononuclear cells of the colonic lamina propria accompanied clinical improvement in patients receiving anti–interleukin-12.

Conclusions: Treatment with a monoclonal antibody against interleukin-12 may induce clinical responses and remissions in patients with active Crohn's disease. This treatment is associated with decreases in Th1-mediated inflammatory cytokines at the site of disease."....

Geez..........there are a couple of all those acronyms I throw around quite often (and that were in my original research narrative, i.e. TNFa, Th1 vs. Th2 immune balance, etc.) The more substantiation I get for even bits and/or pieces of my pharmacology hypothesis is great news to me, also!

here's a bit more information....nothing too insightful though...



Safety and Effectiveness of Two Doses of ABT-874 as Compared to Placebo in Subjects with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

This study is currently recruiting patients.
Sponsored by: Abbott Laboratories

Purpose
The objective of the trial is to study the safety and effectiveness of ABT-874 administered weekly or every other week in patients with relapsing remitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis as compared to placebo. Effectiveness will be measured based on MRI scans done periodically thoughout the study.

Drug: ABT-874/Human monoclonal antibody against IL-12
Phase II

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Treatment, Safety/Efficacy Study
Study start: May 2004

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/show/N ... 7?order=15

Yea, it's still pretty early in the big scheme of things with this aspect, and this particular study/finding is applicable to Crohn's and not an exact replica of what they might find will be helpful for MS, but the principle is interesting, and it's intriguing to see they are making some progress in isolating treatment of one (or eventually a certain combination of) cytokines.

Good stuff! Probably only a small step forward, but it "appears" to at least be a step in the right direction, i.e. positive one (solely speaking from my viewpoint).

Who knows though, anything could yet end up to be a dead end. But......... That's how I feel right about now. It wasn't that long ago that they weren't even able to target specific cytokines. It was more like an "all or nothing" type of situation.

Just the fact that they are coming along with "selective" targeting is good news to me.

Deb

I don't know if this is a misprint or not, but it says here that ABT-874 is entering PHASE III! I hope that's true...


Safety and Effectiveness of Two Doses of ABT-874 as Compared to Placebo in Subjects with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

This study is currently recruiting patients.

Sponsored by: Abbott Laboratories
Information provided by: Abbott Laboratories

Purpose
The objective of the trial is to study the safety and effectiveness of ABT-874 administered weekly or every other week in patients with relapsing remitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis as compared to placebo. Effectiveness will be measured based on MRI scans done periodically thoughout the study.

Condition
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing Remitting
Multiple Sclerosis, Secondary Progressive

Treatment or Intervention
Drug: ABT-874/Human monoclonal antibody against IL-12

Phase
Phase III

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/N ... 1?order=17[/b]

Most likely it was a misprint.

My wife is going to participate in this study starting this month. It is still Phase II and she will be joining apprx. 200 participants at its tail end.

Thanks for the update, I've been wondering about that. Good luck to your wife.

There is an article (which I wouldn't understand, even if I could get my hands on it) published in this June 15th Journal of Immunology about IL-12.

The study wasn't using ABT874, but, a different IL-12 suppressant study drug from Centocor, e.g., see www.umm.edu/ms/clinical_trials.html

Nonetheless, from reading a story about this article:
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=11599
(which, BTW, I can't understand that well either.) It seems like there is some confirmation for IL-12 suppression.

Would any of more biochemically inclined participants weigh in/comment on this article?

-Gary