Chronic inducible urticaria trials looking for participants
The treatment has a rapid onset and sustained durability with a well-tolerated initial safety profile.
A new drug trial underway in SA explores a promising new investigational treatment for chronic urticaria, a debilitating skin condition characterised by the recurrent appearance of hives that last for six weeks or longer.
Professor Jonny Peter, the head of the Allergology and Clinical Immunology division at Groote Schuur and the UCT Lung Institute, said there remains a need for new treatments aimed at patients who do not respond to high doses of antihistamines especially.
“Up to a few years ago, little was understood about the condition, but as more data was collected through the Urticaria Centres of Reference and Excellence (UCARE), a global network of urticaria care clinics, more effective treatments are being trialled to fill the void,” Peter explained.
One such treatment involves a humanised monoclonal antibody that interferes with mast cell survival – the primary immune cell that leads to hives and wheal formation.
Peter and other experts believe the mast cell depleting mechanism could potentially control the condition completely.
“The first set of trials conducted on this type of therapy overseas have already demonstrated remarkable response rates and impressive improvements in the quality of life in tough-to-treat forms of urticaria.
“The treatment has a rapid onset and sustained durability with a well-tolerated initial safety profile, which supports the ongoing Phase 2 studies in urticaria in progress globally, including SA.
“While several SA patients have already been enrolled for the Phase 2 study of chronic urticaria, we still need six patients with two specialised forms of chronic urticaria.
“We are looking for candidates in Gauteng who suffer from chronic urticaria induced by physical stimulus. This is called chronic inducible urticaria (CIndU). The two most common are symptomatic dermographism (SD) and cold urticaria (ColdU).
“Symptomatic dermographism is the most common type of inducible urticaria, occurring in about 2 to 5% of the population, where hives are triggered upon rubbing, pressure or mild trauma to the skin. The literal meaning is ‘to write on the skin’.
“Downward pressure on the skin produces a linear wheal in the shape of the applied external force. Other forms of chronic inducible urticarias result from other specific physical or environmental stimuli like cold, heat, exercise, sunlight, water or sweating. Since these conditions are so rare, we are putting out a public service announcement about the trial.”
Patients eligible for the trial must be:
• 18 or older;
• diagnosed with a chronic inducible urticaria that has been present for more than three months;
• have chronic inducible urticaria that is sufficiently severe to impact quality of life and has not responded to antihistamine therapy;
• willing to maintain a daily diary and comply with the study procedure for the length of the study.
For more information about the trial, visit www.lunginstitute.co.za or contact Noejfah Jardien on 021 406 6889 or Noejfah.Jardien@uct.ac.za, who will connect patients to their closest UCARE facility.
Participation in the study is voluntary, and making contact does not obligate patients to join the study, nor are participants required to complete the study. Any data that is collected will help improve health outcomes for patients.
