Could existing drugs stop autoimmune organ scarring?
Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA) have uncovered a possible way to prevent the dangerous hardening of skin and organs in people with systemic scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease. The research shows that immune cells called macrophages play a direct role in creating the thick scar tissue that damages organs throughout the body.
Systemic scleroderma affects an estimated 100,000 Americans, with about 200,000 living with a milder, localized form of the condition. More than 30% of patients with systemic scleroderma die within 10 years, often because scarring stiffens the lungs and makes breathing difficult. The disease most commonly strikes between ages 30 and 50 and affects women more than 5 times as often as men.
In systemic scleroderma, the body produces too much collagen, the material that normally helps hold skin, bones, and connective tissue together. As this excess collagen accumulates, skin and organs progressively stiffen and harden, impairing their ability to function. Despite decades of research, virtually no treatments are currently available to patients.
According to new findings from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, developed in collaboration with researchers in France, scientists have identified a target that could potentially halt disease progression. They discovered that macrophages, immune cells that normally help clear debris and calm inflammation, are responsible for the harmful buildup of fibrous scar tissue. In systemic scleroderma, chronic inflammation drives macrophages to continuously produce collagen that eventually harms the body.
The team studied two different approaches to reduce macrophage activity in laboratory models. Remarkably, both methods completely stopped scarring. The findings point toward a promising treatment strategy. Because clinically approved therapies that target macrophages already exist,
“Repurposing these treatments for use in scleroderma would be an exciting next step in finding new therapies for this devastating disease.”
While more research is needed to understand whether targeting macrophages can reverse damage that has already occurred, the study suggests that targeting macrophages could be highly effective in preventing disease progression. For people with early-stage systemic scleroderma, or those at high risk of developing it, this research offers genuine hope for interventions that could stop the disease before irreversible damage takes hold.