Of the six patients who completed the study, four had complete resolution of disease. The drug was well-tolerated and did not cause any serious side effects. Trentham and his colleagues believe that the impressive results of the pilot study warrant expanded clinical trials. The antibiotic minocycline emerged as a likely drug candidate when it was recently found to effectively treat rheumatoid arthritis patients, with fewer toxic side effects than current drugs such as penicillamine and methotrexate. Rheumatologists do not really know why this antibiotic works, but they do know that it has antiinflammatory properties and it may suppress other components of the mammalian immune system, said Trentham.
Patients suffer thickening and tightening of the skin that is disfiguring and restricts movement.
Large clinical trials to test new therapies are difficult to implement due to the rarity of the disease. The pilot study was funded in part from The Road Back Foundation and a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a major clinical, research, and teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, is a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.