Target Identification for Drug Discovery in Giant Cell Arteritis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Target Identification for Drug Discovery in Giant Cell Arteritis (TARDIS)
IRAS ID
312996
Contact name
Neil Basu
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a common autoimmune disease of the elderly where the body's immune system attacks medium and large sized blood vessels, with primary involvement of the temporal arteries. Consequences of GCA include vision loss, aortic aneurysm, and cardiovascular disease. The mainstream treatment is steroid therapy. Although these are effective in reducing short-term complications, they commonly do not provide cure and the disease returns in up to ~50% of cases. In addition, steroids have considerable side-effects including increased risk of infections, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Currently limited therapeutic options highlight the necessity of novel treatments to reduce the use of steroids or replace them.
This study aims to identify novel biological abnormalities associated with poor response to steroid treatment, by analyzing samples of blood vessels and blood of patients with GCA. This will allow us to determine which aspects of the disease can be alternatively targeted when glucocorticoid treatment is insufficient. In addition, capturing the blood vessel and blood biological signature of patients displaying response to steroids can inform future replacement therapies.REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SC/0190
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jun 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion