I have already posted about the moves being made in gene therapy. Andrew Dick (who chairs the Birdshot Research Network) and colleagues have published a paper on gene therapy for non infectious uveitis, including severe forms of posterior uveitis such as Birdshot.
The paper points out that these severe forms of posterior uveitis are a significant cause of visual loss even with the current levels of systemic immunosuppressive treatments, so new and alternative treatments need to be developed.
Results from phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of gene therapy for monogenic retinal disorders have offered possibilities for the development of gene therapy for our condition, Birdshot.
This therapy offers the possibility of potent, self-regulating, long-term disease control following a single treatment and without systemic side-effects – HOORAY!
Already, trials using gene therapy approaches such as interleukin-10, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, interferon-alpha, soluble TNF-alpha receptors and alpha-MSH gene transfer have been used successfully in animal models.
This paper evaluates the preclinical trials (trials that are held before they start using them on people) and looks at how this approach could be brought to clinical practice and what other approaches might be available. It is a GREAT, GREAT paper!
Read it at: