Dataset Information

Doxycycline versus prednisolone as an initial treatment strategy for bullous pemphigoid: a pragmatic, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bullous pemphigoid is a blistering skin disorder with increased mortality. We tested whether a strategy of starting treatment with doxycycline gives acceptable short-term blister control while conferring long-term safety advantages over starting treatment with oral corticosteroids.

Methods

We did a pragmatic, multicentre, parallel-group randomised controlled trial of adults with bullous pemphigoid (three or more blisters at two or more sites and linear basement membrane IgG or C3). Participants were randomly assigned to doxycycline (200 mg per day) or prednisolone (0·5 mg/kg per day) using random permuted blocks of randomly varying size, and stratified by baseline severity (3-9, 10-30, and >30 blisters for mild, moderate, and severe disease, respectively). Localised adjuvant potent topical corticosteroids (<30 g per week) were permitted during weeks 1-3. The non-inferiority primary effectiveness outcome was the proportion of participants with three or fewer blisters at 6 weeks. We assumed that doxycycline would be 25% less effective than corticosteroids with a 37% acceptable margin of non-inferiority. The primary safety outcome was the proportion with severe, life-threatening, or fatal (grade 3-5) treatment-related adverse events by 52 weeks. Analysis (modified intention to treat [mITT] for the superiority safety analysis and mITT and per protocol for non-inferiority effectiveness analysis) used a regression model adjusting for baseline disease severity, age, and Karnofsky score, with missing data imputed. The trial is registered at ISRCTN, number ISRCTN13704604.

Findings

Between March 1, 2009, and Oct 31, 2013, 132 patients were randomly assigned to doxycycline and 121 to prednisolone from 54 UK and seven German dermatology centres. Mean age was 77·7 years (SD 9·7) and 173 (68%) of 253 patients had moderate-to-severe baseline disease. For those starting doxycycline, 83 (74%) of 112 patients had three or fewer blisters at 6 weeks compared with 92 (91%) of 101 patients on prednisolone, an adjusted difference of 18·6% (90% CI 11·1-26·1) favouring prednisolone (upper limit of 90% CI, 26·1%, within the predefined 37% margin). Related severe, life-threatening, and fatal events at 52 weeks were 18% (22 of 121) for those starting doxycycline and 36% (41 of 113) for prednisolone (mITT), an adjusted difference of 19·0% (95% CI 7·9-30·1), p=0·001.

Interpretation

Starting patients on doxycycline is non-inferior to standard treatment with oral prednisolone for short-term blister control in bullous pemphigoid and significantly safer in the long-term.

Funding

NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme.

SUBMITTER: Williams HC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5400809 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundBullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune blistering disease in the West. Oral steroids are the standard treatment.This is an update of the review published in 2005.ObjectivesTo assess treatments for bullous pemphigoid.Search strategyIn August 2010 we updated our searches of the Cochrane Skin Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Clinical Trials), MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Ongoing Trials registers.Selection criteriaRandomised controlled trials of treatments for participants with immunofluorescence-confirmed bullous pemphigoid.Data collection and analysisAt least two authors evaluated the studies for the inclusion criteria, and extracted data independently.Main resultsWe included 10 randomised controlled trials (with a total of 1049 participants) of moderate to high risk of bias. All studies involved different comparisons, none had a placebo group. In 1 trial plasma exchange plus prednisone gave significantly better disease control at 1 month (0.3 mg/kg: RR 18.78, 95% CI 1.20 to 293.70) than prednisone alone (1.0 mg/kg: RR 1.79, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.90), while another trial showed no difference in disease control at 6 months.No differences in disease control were seen for different doses or formulations of prednisolone (one trial each), for azathioprine plus prednisone compared with prednisone alone (one trial), for prednisolone plus azathioprine compared with prednisolone plus plasma exchange (one trial), for prednisolone plus mycophenolate mofetil or plus azathioprine (one trial), for tetracycline plus nicotinamide compared with prednisolone (one trial). Chinese traditional medicine plus prednisone was not effective in one trial.There were no significant differences in healing in a comparison of a standard regimen of topical steroids (clobetasol) with a milder regimen (RR 1.00, 95% 0.97 to 1.03) in one trial. In another trial, clobetasol showed significantly more disease control than oral prednisolone in people with extensive and moderate disease (RR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.17), with significantly reduced mortality and adverse events (RR 1.06, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.12).Authors' conclusionsVery potent topical steroids are effective and safe treatments for BP, but their use in extensive disease may be limited by side-effects and practical factors. Milder regimens (using lower doses of steroids) are safe and effective in moderate BP. Starting doses of prednisolone greater than 0.75 mg/kg/day do not give additional benefit, lower doses may be adequate to control disease and reduce the incidence and severity of adverse reactions. The effectiveness of adding plasma exchange, azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil to corticosteroids, and combination treatment with tetracycline and nicotinamide needs further investigation.

Project description:ImportanceA substantial number of patients with bullous pemphigoid do not develop skin blisters and may not have received the correct diagnosis. Diagnostic criteria and an optimal diagnostic strategy are needed for early recognition and trials.ObjectivesTo assess the minimal requirements for diagnosis of bullous and nonbullous forms of pemphigoid and to evaluate the optimal diagnostic strategy.Design, setting, and participantsThis paired, multivariable, diagnostic accuracy study analyzed data from 1125 consecutive patients with suspected pemphigoid who were referred to the Groningen Center for Blistering Diseases from secondary and tertiary care hospitals throughout the Netherlands. Eligible participants were patients with paired data on at least (1) a skin biopsy specimen for the direct immunofluorescence (DIF) microscopy test; (2) indirect immunofluorescence on a human salt-split skin substrate (IIF SSS) test; and (3) 1 or more routine immunoserologic tests administered between January 1, 2002, and May 1, 2015. Samples were taken from patients at the time of first diagnosis, before introduction of immunosuppressive therapy, and within an inclusion window of a maximum of 4 weeks. Data analysis was conducted from October 1, 2015, to December 1, 2017.Main outcomes and measuresPairwise DIF, IIF SSS, IIF on monkey esophagus, BP180 and BP230 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and immunoblot for BP180 and BP230 tests were performed. The results were reported in accordance with 2015 version of the Standards for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy.ResultsOf the 1125 patients analyzed, 653 (58.0%) were women and 472 (42.0%) were men, with a mean (SD) age of 63.2 (19.9) years. In total, 343 participants received a pemphigoid diagnosis, with 782 controls. Of the 343 patients, 74 (21.6%, or 1 in 5) presented with nonbullous pemphigoid. The DIF microscopy was the most sensitive diagnostic test (88.3% [n = 303]; 95% CI, 84.5%-91.3%), whereas IIF SSS was less sensitive (77.0% [n = 263]; 95% CI, 72.2%-81.1%) but was highly specific (99.9%; 95% CI, 99.3%-100%) and complemented most cases with negative DIF findings. Results of the BP180 NC16A enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay did not add diagnostic value for initial diagnosis in multivariable logistic regression analysis of combined tests. These findings lead to the proposed minimal criteria for diagnosing pemphigoid: (1) pruritus and/or predominant cutaneous blisters, (2) linear IgG and/or C3c deposits (in an n-serrated pattern) by DIF on a skin biopsy specimen, and (3) positive epidermal side staining of IgG by IIF SSS on a serum sample; this proposal extends bullous pemphigoid with the unrecognized nonbullous form.Conclusions and relevanceBoth DIF and IIF SSS tests should be performed for diagnosis of the bullous and nonbullous variants of pemphigoid, and the BP180 NC16A enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is recommended as an add-on test for disease activity monitoring.

Project description:Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a rare autoimmune skin blistering disease, characterized by the presence of autoantibodies against hemidesmosomal autoantigens. Cytokine expression is altered in BP patients, and several of these differently expressed cytokines, including IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-8, and TNF-α, contribute to disease pathogenesis. Since genetic polymorphisms in the genes of these cytokines might be implicated in susceptibility to BP disease, we aimed at testing this implication in susceptibility to BP in an Iranian cohort. Blood samples were collected from the subjects and genomic DNA was extracted. To detect the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), IL-1α (rs1800587), IL-1β (rs1143627, rs16944, rs1143634), IL-8 (rs4073), and TNF-α (rs1799964, rs1800630, rs1799724, and rs361525) genes were genotyped in BP patients and healthy controls as well as IL-8 (rs4073) in pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients. Quantitative gene expression was evaluated by RT-PCR analysis. A significant difference was observed in the distribution of genotypes or alleles of IL-8 SNP between the BP patients and controls. The A-allele of IL-8 SNP is significantly more prevalent in the control individuals compared to the BP patient. To further validate this observation, we included PV patients as an additional control. Again, the A-allele of IL-8 SNP is significantly more prevalent in the PV compared to the BP patients. While we observed a trend toward significant differences regarding alleles of TNF-α rs1799724 as well as alleles of TNF-α rs1799964, this difference was, however, not evident after correction for multiple analysis. There was no significant difference in all other studied SNPs. In contrast to IL-1α, IL-1β, and TNF-α, IL-8 gene expression levels were significantly higher in the patients than that of controls. The minor allele in IL-8 SNP might play a protective role in susceptibility to BP in Iranian patients. Although higher expression levels of IL-8 gene was found in the patients compared with healthy controls, these levels, however, suggest no association with the examined polymorphism. Moreover, further investigation revealed an elevation in gene expression between wild and polymorphic genotypes of IL-1α rs1800587 and TNF-α rs361525 in the patient group and these SNPs are therefore associated with altering the levels of gene expression.

Project description:ImportanceDupilumab is a theoretically novel therapy for bullous pemphigoid (BP). However, its effectiveness and safety have yet to be confirmed in a large-scale study.ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy and safety of dupilumab in patients with BP and evaluate factors that potentially affect short-term and long-term outcomes.Design, setting, and participantsA retrospective cohort study was conducted from January 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022. The median (IQR) follow-up period was 24.6 (11.5-38.4) weeks. This multicenter study was performed in 6 dermatology departments of the National Autoimmune Bullous Diseases Cooperative Group of China. Adult patients with BP that received 300 mg of dupilumab every 2 weeks following an initial dose of 600 mg were included. Patients were eligible if they had a clinical presentation of BP combined with immunological or pathological evidence. Patients with drug-induced BP, with less than 4 weeks of follow-up, and who received dupilumab or any other biologics within 6 months were excluded.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was the proportion of patients who achieved disease control within 4 weeks. Disease control was defined as the absence of new lesions and pruritus, combined with the healing of existing lesions. Complete remission rates, relapse rates, changes in Bullous Pemphigoid Disease Area Index (BPDAI) scores, itching numerical rating scale (NRS) scores, laboratory results within 64 weeks, and adverse events (AEs) were also assessed.ResultsAmong 146 patients (median [IQR] age, 73 [64-85] years; 86 [58.9%] male patients) included in the study, 127 (87.0%) patients achieved disease control within 4 weeks, with a median (IQR) time of 14 (7-14) days. A total of 52 (35.6%) patients achieved complete remission, and 13 (8.9%) patients relapsed during the observation period. The complete remission rate and cumulative relapse rate at week 64 were 62.5% (5 of 8) and 30.9%, respectively. There was rapid and sustained improvement in clinical indicators and laboratory examination results after dupilumab treatment, including BPDAI scores, itching NRS scores, serum anti-BP180 and anti-BP230 antibodies, total IgE levels, and eosinophil count. Of these 146 patients, 107 (73.3%) did not report any AEs. The most common AEs were infections and eosinophilia. Serum anti-BP180 antibody levels of greater than 50 relative units (RU)/mL (OR, 3.63; 95% CI, 0.97-12.61; P = .045) were associated with 4-week disease control, and male patients were more likely to relapse (HR, 10.97; 95% CI, 1.42-84.92; P = .02).Conclusions and relevanceIn this retrospective cohort study, dupilumab treatment was associated with improved clinical symptoms in patients with BP. The safety profile was favorable, although concurrent infection and eosinophilia might pose potential concerns. This study suggests that patients with anti-BP180 antibody levels of at least 50 RU/mL and female sex may respond better.

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