My rheumy has mentioned this particular trial recently, along with a few others the clinic is participating in. So far, I'm only on methotrexate (and Darvocet as needed), and I think I'm probably going to skip the DMARDs in favor of trying one of the current trials, but I'd love more information. Have any of you been participating in any of the current IL-blocking infusion trials, and how is it going for you?
He particularly had mentioned the IL-17 recently. But then I showed him my scalp rash, which I've had all my life, and he said it actually looks more like psoriasis rather than the seborrhea I'd always assumed it was. I am confirmed with RA, but he's now thinking I may also have psoriatic arthritis, so that may affect which treatments would help me and which wouldn't after all. So I'm scheduled to have a skin biopsy with the dermatologist next week, and we'll go from there, depending on the results. Either way, the clinic is running several of the infusion trials right now, so I'd love to hear from any of you who have (/are currently?) participating in these.
TIA for any info./advice/opinions!
Jodi in Oregon
Bump.
No one?
Sorry, haven't heard of it.
Bumping
Anyone heard of the IL-17 clinical trial? Of ANY of the current clinical trials of drug infusions for RA?
I haven't heard of that either. Good luck with the biopsies. They're not doing them on your head, are they?I did a simple Google search for you and this was all I found:
IL-17, a proinflammatory cytokine, can be blocked with a monoclonal antibody. Smith and colleagues[20]
tested the hypothesis that IL-17 was responsible for driving relapses
in the spontaneous chronic-relapsing experimental allergic
encephalomyelitis model in the mouse, with an antimouse IL-17
monoclonal immunoglobulin antibody. Ten milligrams per kilogram of
anti-IL-17 antibody were administered weekly subcutaneously during
remission. The anti-IL-17 antibody significantly reduced the relapse
incidence and the inhibited neurologic deficit formation. Treatment
with the antibody prior to the acute phase delayed disease, but failed
to reduce the clinical score. Because IL-17 may be playing an important
role in driving relapses, anti-IL-17 therapies may prove to be
effective treatment options for relapsing-remitting disease.
I have no idea what it means though.
I would be asking a lot of questions before I went into any clinical trial. Good luck, though!
Okay, thanks anyway, Folks. Yes, the biopsy was of my scalp, and it turned out positive for psoriasis. So in addition to having rheumatoid arthritis, I may very well have psoriatic arthritis, too. Apparently this limits my treatment options dramatically. I have another appt. with rheumy on Monday, so we'll go from there.
Sounds like I"ll probably end up settling for adding a DMARD to my weekly mtx, although I might still be a candidate for a trial... will have to discuss it with him further on Monday.
Do any of you have any suggestions for getting my energy level back up? Between the RA and the Mtx, I'm awfully lethargic most of the time. Very frustrating.
I was also struggling a lot with fatigue. Two things helped me a lot. One, I stopped MTX and am taking Humira...makes a big difference. And two, I started practicing Yoga...about an hour a day now...and it also helps a lot with the fatigue. I find I have a lot more energy after a workout...nothing real intense, mostly stretching poses.
Alan