News

Q&A With RARE-X Disease Data Platform Founder, Nicole Boice

The nonprofit RARE-X is creating an easily-accessible, centralized data hub for all rare disease patient data that can help researchers answer questions about existing disorders, discover new ones, and work toward finding treatments. It was spun out of the work that Nicole Boice, founder and chief engagement officer of…

Rare Disease Day Events Bring Awareness, Equity to Patients

Since 2008, Rare Disease Day — the last day of February — has brought together patients, caregivers, family members, friends, and advocates from around the world to raise awareness and improve equity for the more than 7,000 known rare diseases that affect more than 300 million people. In 2022, the…

Soliris Boosts Success of Kidney Transplants in Small aHUS Study

Soliris (eculizumab) prevented disease recurrence in a small group of patients with primary atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) after they underwent kidney transplantation, a recent study has found. The study, “Efficacy and Safety of Eculizumab in Kidney Transplant Patients With Primary Atypical Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome,” was published in…

Case Stresses Importance of Monitoring for Post-transplant Infections

Because viral infections can worsen atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), researchers recommend testing patients for infections that are common following an organ transplant. They describe the case of patient, whose aHUS symptoms recurred after undergoing a kidney transplant, in their report, “Concurrent cytomegalovirus enteritis and atypical…

Same C5a Complement Protein Mechanisms Found in aHUS, COVID-19

C5a, a terminal product of the complement system, can, by itself, promote blood vessel dysfunction and the subsequent formation of blood clots seen in people with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), a study shows. Notably, the same C5a-induced molecular mechanisms were detected among patients with severe COVID-19 and whose infection…