Sarcoidosis is a rare disease that affects around 200,000 people in the U.S., particularly Black people and women.
It often involves the skin, causing chronic symptoms, but it can also affect other organs like the lungs, heart, and eyes.
The disease is known for forming granulomas—clumps of immune cells—that can lead to inflammation and organ damage.
A new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine offers hope for better diagnosing and treating sarcoidosis.
They discovered that a type of immune cell, called type 1 innate lymphoid cells (ILC1s), is present in much higher amounts in the granulomas of people with sarcoidosis.
This discovery could lead to a new way of diagnosing sarcoidosis by measuring the levels of these cells in the blood.
Current treatment for sarcoidosis typically involves using steroids, which suppress the immune system broadly. However, these medications can have major side effects.
This new research opens the door to a more targeted treatment approach.
The researchers found that blocking a specific pathway, called CXCR4, can stop granulomas from forming. Drugs that inhibit CXCR4 are already available and used for other medical purposes, which means they could potentially be repurposed to treat sarcoidosis.
Dr. Thomas Leung, one of the lead researchers, explained that these findings may not only help diagnose sarcoidosis faster but also lead to a more effective treatment with fewer side effects.
The study also involved testing these findings in mice. The researchers found that blocking the CXCR4 pathway in mice significantly reduced the formation of granulomas, supporting the idea that this pathway plays a key role in the disease.
Dr. Misha Rosenbach, a co-author of the study, highlighted that diagnosing sarcoidosis is still difficult because there is no single test for the disease. However, knowing that ILC1 levels are linked to sarcoidosis could make diagnosis quicker and more accurate.
This discovery brings hope for more precise treatments and a better quality of life for people suffering from sarcoidosis.
The team is now looking into clinical trials to see if repurposing existing drugs that block CXCR4 could be the first targeted treatment for this disease.
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Source: University of Pennsylvania.
