T and B Cells in Graves' Orbitopathy

Graves Ophthalmopathy Clinical Trial

— LYMPHGO  

Official title:

T and B Cells Infiltrating Orbital Tissues in Graves' Orbitopathy (GO) and Their Relation With GO Features

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03195296
• Other study ID #: LYMPHGO
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: June 19, 2017
• Last updated: February 9, 2018
• Start date: January 1, 2017
• Est. completion date: May 31, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: February 2018
• Source: University of Pisa
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

Graves orbitopathy (GO) is an inflammatory eye disease associated in 95% of patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism (GH), in ~3-4% with hypothyroid autoimmune thyroiditis, and in ~1-2% with thyroid autoimmunity in the absence of thyroid dysfunction, the former known as euthyroid GO. The pathogenesis of GO is autoimmune, with the TSH-receptor being considered the major autoantigen, thereby establishing a pathogenetic link between the thyroid and orbital tissue. Thus, TSH-receptor is expressed by orbital fibroblasts, where it forms a complex with the IGF-1 receptor. Unlike GH, which is notoriously caused by TSH-receptor stimulating autoantibodies, GO is believed to reflect cell-mediated autoimmunity, as suggested by studies showing a Th1-like pattern of cytokine release by primary cultures of orbital infiltrating lymphocytes from GO patients. On the other hand, a role of B lymphocytes has emerged in recent years based on the observation that the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab has a beneficial effect on GO activity, as demonstrated by a recent randomized clinical trial in which rituximab was compared with intravenous glucocorticoids (GC), being the former the standard treatment of moderately-severe GO. The explanation for the findings was that B lymphocytes are involved in the pathogenesis of GO as antigen-presenting cells. However, in spite of the above mentioned promising observations, another randomized clinical trial in which rituximab was compared with placebo provided opposite results. Thus, rituximab had no effect at all on GO. Data from the two studies were confronted and major differences between the two cohorts emerged, especially concerning GO activity, leading to the conclusion that rituximab may be effective for active, but not for inactive GO. Rituximab has been employed also for autoimmune diseases other than GO, including type 1 diabetes. In the former, it was shown that the effectiveness of rituximab paralleled the presence of CD20-positive infiltrating lymphocytes in pancreas islets. We therefore postulated that something similar may occur in GO, because of which we planned the present, perspective, observational study, aimed at determining the presence and immunohistochemical features of lymphocytes infiltrating orbital tissues in patients with GO and to relate them with the clinical features of GO.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 20
• Est. completion date: May 31, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: May 31, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 80 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with Graves' orbitopathy subjected to orbital decompression

Exclusion Criteria:

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Eye Diseases
• Graves Ophthalmopathy

Intervention

Other:
• No intervention
No intervention related to the study is foreseen

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Pisa

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Correlation between lymphocytes infiltrating orbital tissue and GO activity	Correlation between the number of lymphocytes infiltrating orbital tissues and the clinical activity score.; The number of infiltrating lymphocytes is the sum of the number counted in four representative fields.; The clinical activity score comprises 7 items (eyelid edema, conjuctival redness, eyelid redness, chemosis, caruncle edema, spontaneous eye pain, gaze-evoked eye pain), resulting in a numerical score going from 1 to 7	an average of 1 week
Secondary	Correlation between CD3-positive lymphocytes infiltrating orbital tissue and GO activity	Correlation between the number of CD3-positive lymphocytes infiltrating orbital tissues and the clinical activity score.; The number of CD3 positive infiltrating lymphocytes is the sum of the number counted in four representative fields, following immunohistochemical staining for CD3 The clinical activity score comprises 7 items (eyelid edema, conjuctival redness, eyelid redness, chemosis, caruncle edema, spontaneous eye pain, gaze-evoked eye pain), resulting in a numerical score going from 1 to 7	an average of 1 week
Secondary	Correlation between CD20-positive lymphocytes infiltrating orbital tissue and GO activity	Correlation between the number of CD20-positive lymphocytes infiltrating orbital tissues and the clinical activity score.; The number of CD20 positive infiltrating lymphocytes is the sum of the number counted in four representative fields, following immunohistochemical staining for CD20 The clinical activity score comprises 7 items (eyelid edema, conjuctival redness, eyelid redness, chemosis, caruncle edema, spontaneous eye pain, gaze-evoked eye pain), resulting in a numerical score going from 1 to 7	an average of 1 week