High-Risk Pregnancies in Women With APS, Lupus May Soon See Upgrade in Standard of Care - Medscape

Response rates with litifilimab, a monoclonal antibody targeting blood dendritic cell antigen 2 (BDCA2), continued to rise through week 52 in patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) refractory or intolerant to antimalarials, according to Victoria P. Werth, MD, professor of dermatology and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and François Chasset, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology at Sorbonne Université and Hôpital Tenon in Paris. The 2 discussed the phase 2 AMETHYST Part A data in an HCPLive special report from the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress 2026 in Vienna, Austria (September 30–October 3). The findings come from a Biogen-sponsored congress abstract that has not been peer-reviewed, and both speakers are authors on it.1 AMETHYST Part A (NCT05531565) randomized 93 adults to subcutaneous litifilimab (n = 59) or placebo (n = 34) every 4 weeks through week 24, after which all participants received litifilimab through week 52.1 Chasset noted the cohort was 74% women and 33% non-white.

A large-scale study, presented today at UEG Week 2026, has identified distinct antibody patterns up to 10 years before the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), potentially opening new avenues for earlier risk detection and providing insights into future disease course. IBD is a group of chronic conditions, including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), in which abnormal immune responses contribute to ongoing inflammation and damage in the digestive system. Although IBD is increasingly recognized to develop over a prolonged period before diagnosis, relatively little is known about the immune changes that occur during this time.

Antibiotic use from childhood through early adulthood was associated with higher odds of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) at age 24, with the odds increasing as the number of antibiotic prescriptions rose, according to a new study presented today at UEG Week 2026. IBS is a common digestive disorder that affects more than 60 million people across Europe, causing symptoms such as abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits. Whilst previous research has suggested a link between antibiotic use and IBS, evidence on whether childhood exposure is associated with IBS in adulthood remains inconsistent. Much of the existing evidence relies on people recalling past antibiotic use, with a lack of population-based studies using objectively recorded antibiotic data across childhood.