Leveraging Fungal and Human Calcineurin-Inhibitor Structures, Biophysical Data, and Dynamics To Design Selective and Nonimmunosuppressive FK506 Analogs

Invasive fungal infections are a leading cause of death in the immunocompromised patient population. The rise in drug resistance to current antifungals highlights the urgent need to develop more efficacious and highly selective agents.

A Calcineurin Inhibitor Free Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) Prophylaxis for Patients Undergoing Matched Related (MRD) and Matched Unrelated Donor (MUD) Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant (Allo-HCT)

Introduction Post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) and calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) based GVHD prophylaxis has shown lower rates of acute and chronic GVHD when compared with the traditional prophylaxis of calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) and methotrexate (MTX) in matched donor (related and unrelated) allo-HCT. The combination of PTCy with sirolimus as a calcineurin inhibitor-free GVHD prophylaxis has shown promising results with cumulative rates of grade II-IV acute and chronic GVHD in the range of 15-27% and 20-27% respectively in patients undergoing matched and haploidentical allo-HCT. We report a single center, nonrandomized comparison of patients undergoing matched donor allo-HCT receiving PTCy in combination with sirolimus (PTCy/Siro) with those receiving the standard GVHD prophylaxis of tacrolimus and MTX (Tac/MTX). Methods One hundred and sixteen consecutive patients who had undergone a MRD or MUD allo-HCT between January 2018 to January 2021 and received either PTCy with sirolimus or tacrolimus with methotrexate as GVHD prophylaxis regimens were eligible for inclusion. The selection of PTCy with sirolimus or tacrolimus with methotrexate as GVHD prophylaxis regimen was based on physician choice. Primary endpoints were cumulative incidence of acute (grade II to IV) and chronic GVHD. Secondary endpoints were a) neutrophil and platelet engraftment; b) overall survival (OS); c) non-relapse mortality (NRM); d) relapse; e) clinical infections and f) time to immunosuppression (IS) withdrawal. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate 1-year and 2-year freedom from long term adverse events, including chronic GVHD, relapse, NRM and OS. All tests were two-sided with alpha level set at 0.05 for statistical significance. Results Out of a total of 116 patients undergoing MRD and MUD allo-HCT, 29 received PTCy/Siro and 87 Tac/MTX. Baseline characteristics were similar between the two arms except patients in PTCy/Siro were younger with median of 48 (range: 24-69) years vs. 61 (range: 20-73) years (p=0.004) in Tac/MTX. There was difference in primary indication for allo-HCT between the two arms with non-hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) being the most common in PTCy/Siro and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the Tac/MTX group. Patients receiving PTCy/Siro had a significantly higher median CD3 day 100 chimerism at 100 (90-100) vs. 90 (40-100) % (<0.001) and a significantly shorter median time to IS withdrawal at 138 (37-312) vs 232(66-1120) days for patients receiving Tac/MTX. There was no difference between the two arms for length of hospital stay and time to neutrophil engraftment, but PTCy/Siro had a significantly longer median time for platelet engraftment at 17.5 (12-74) vs.14 (11-38) days (p= 0.001). No significant difference was observed between the two arms for incidence of grade II to IV acute GVHD, grade III to IV acute GVHD, steroid refractory acute GVHD or clinical infections (Table 1). After a median follow up of 1.1 (range: 0-1.8) years, patients receiving PTCy/Siro were significantly less likely to have chronic GVHD with 2-year freedom from GVHD of 75% (95%CI: 58-98%) vs 20% (95%CI 10-40%), p=0.005 (Figure 1). There was no difference between the two arms for OS, disease relapse or non-relapse mortality (Table 2). Conclusion In this study, the combination of PTCy/Siro is associated with a significantly lower risk of chronic GVHD when compared against the traditional GVHD prophylaxis of CNI and methotrexate, despite significantly earlier IS withdrawal. Other long-term outcomes of interest remained comparable between the two arms. Chronic GVHD contributes to significant morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing allo-HCT. Newer strategies to limit the impact of chronic GVHD are needed. The results of our study warrant validation in a large, multicenter, randomized prospective trial. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Murthy: CRISPR Therapeutics: Research Funding. Foran: gamida: Honoraria; takeda: Research Funding; novartis: Honoraria; trillium: Research Funding; boehringer ingelheim: Research Funding; OncLive: Honoraria; abbvie: Research Funding; certara: Honoraria; sanofi aventis: Honoraria; syros: Honoraria; taiho: Honoraria; revolution medicine: Honoraria; bms: Honoraria; servier: Honoraria; pfizer: Honoraria; actinium: Research Funding; aptose: Research Funding; kura: Research Funding; h3bioscience: Research Funding; aprea: Research Funding; sellas: Research Funding; stemline: Research Funding.

COVID-19 Survivors with Calcineurin Inhibitors-Treated Rheumatoid Arthritis

We report two cases recovered from COVID-19 with rheumatoid arthritis which had been in remission or low disease activity by taking calcineurin inhibitor. Both cases had moderate to severe pneumonia treated with intravenous dexamethasone or in the severe case remdesivir in addition to it. These cases suggest that the use of calcineurin inhibitor may have affected the improvement of severe pneumonia.

Comparison of Therapeutic Effects of Topical Calcineurin Inhibitor and Moisturizing Cream on Pruritic External Auditory Canal

Although pruritic external auditory canal (PEAC) is a relatively common symptom, particularly in the geriatric population, its pathophysiology and appropriate treatment remain to be elucidated. We compared the therapeutic efficacy of pimecrolimus, a topical calcineurin inhibitor (CI), and a moisturizing cream (MC) in patients with PEAC. Thirty-nine patients (73 ears) were prospectively enrolled and treated topically twice daily with the CI (n = 20, 39 ears) or the MC (n = 19, 34 ears) for two weeks. The change in itching sensation was evaluated subjectively using a self-questionnaire at immediately, one month, and two months after self-application, and objectively by changes in erythema grading. Although topical treatment with the CI resulted in a more rapid improvement than treatment with the MC in patients with PEAC, the final outcomes did not differ between the groups. Furthermore, similar improvements in erythema scores were noted. The results of this study suggest that the MC, which rejuvenates the normal physiological status of the ear canal skin, may greatly benefit those elderly patients more susceptible to PEAC, without any concerns about adverse events and underlying comorbidities. Expanding upon the understanding of the role of moisturizers in the treatment of pruritic ears merits attention, as this knowledge provides a good example of the clinical guidelines for the management of PEAC.

Human or Chimeric Monoclonal Anti-CD20 Antibodies for Children with Nephrotic Syndrome: A Superiority Randomized Trial

BackgroundThe chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab is effective in steroid-dependent and calcineurin inhibitor–dependent forms of nephrotic syndrome, but many patients relapse at 1 year. Because ofatumumab, a fully human anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, has a more extended binding site and higher affinity to CD20 compared with rituximab, it might offer superior efficacy in these patients.MethodsWe designed a single-center randomized clinical trial to compare the long-term efficacy of ofatumumab versus rituximab in children and young adults with nephrotic syndrome maintained in remission with prednisone and calcineurin inhibitors. We randomized 140 children and young adults (aged 2–24 years) to receive intravenous ofatumumab (1.50 mg/1.73 m2) or rituximab (375 mg/m2). After infusions, oral drugs were tapered and withdrawn within 60 days. The primary outcome was relapse at 1 year, which was analyzed following the intent-to-treat principle. The secondary endpoint was relapse within 24 months from infusion, on the basis of urine dipstick and confirmed by a urine protein-to-creatinine ratio <200.ResultsAt 12 months, 37 of 70 (53%) participants who received ofatumumab experienced relapse versus 36 of 70 (51%) who received rituximab (odds ratio [OR], 1.06; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.55 to 2.06). At 24 months, 53 of 70 (76%) participants who received ofatumumab experienced relapse, versus 46 of 70 (66%) who received rituximab (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 0.8 to 3.3). The two groups exhibited comparable B cell subpopulation reconstitution and did not differ in adverse events.ConclusionsA single dose of ofatumumab was not superior to a single dose of rituximab in maintaining remission in children with steroid-dependent and calcineurin inhibitor–dependent nephrotic syndrome.Clinical Trial registration numbers:ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02394119) and https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/search (2015–000624–28).