B-cell Depletion Therapy With Rituximab for Thyroid Eye Disease — BetTeRTED  

Thyroid Eye Disease Clinical Trial

Official title: B-cell Depletion Therapy With Rituximab for Thyroid Eye Disease

Status Terminated

Clinical Trial Summary

Thyroid eye disease (TED) is an autoimmune inflammation of the orbital tissues that develops in up to 50% of patients with Graves' disease. Although about 80% respond to IVGC initially, the relapse rate is high and about 75% require further surgery despite initial response. Although the natural history of TED is associated with spontaneous remissions after about 1 to 3 years, many irreversible serious ophthalmic and orbital complications can arise during this time. Therefore, there is a need for improved intervention strategies in the early active inflammatory phase of TED, to avoid progression to the cicatricial stage where disease manifestations can only be addressed in a rehabilitative fashion. The primary immunopathogenesis of Graves' disease is considered to be activation of B cells that then produce autoantibody against thyrotropin receptors in the thyroid (TRAb). Like in many autoimmune diseases, the inflammatory CD4+ T cell subset known as Th17 cells is also increased in blood of patients with active Graves' disease; the putative Th17 cytokine, IL-17, is also increased in serum and tears of TED patients. There is also an emerging pathogenic role for Th17 cells that co-express the chemokine receptor CXCR5 and drive autoantibody production. The contribution of Th17 cells to TED is not well defined. This study is an observational, longitudinal, prospective study of patients receiving treatment for thyroid eye disease.

Clinical Trial Description

All enrolled subjects will receive Intravenous Glucocorticoid (IVGC) therapy, which is currently the standard of care for TED patients. Subjects will receive the IVGC therapy at a facility chosen by them and their physician. If their disease does not respond to IVGC therapy, they will receive rituximab and/or surgical decompression and/or radiation which is also currently standard of care at a facility chosen by them and their physician. Prior to initiation of treatment and during the course of treatment, study patients will get research labs done along with routine labs and fill out questionnaires regarding their disease symptoms.

We will obtain 30 mL or 2 tablespoons of blood from subjects at initial evaluation and approximately Wk4, Wk 12, Wk 26, Wk 38, and Wk 52 (this may vary depending on when the patient comes in for their follow up visits, but the schedule approximates what is typical for standard of care in these patients) for mechanistic studies. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Eye Diseases
• Graves Ophthalmopathy
• Thyroid Diseases
• Thyroid Eye Disease

• NCT number: NCT02316691
• Study type: Observational
• Source: University of Pittsburgh
• Status: Terminated
• Start date: January 2016
• Completion date: November 2019