Supervisors info:
Σοφία Μαρκαντώνη-Κυρούδη, Καθηγήτρια του τομέα Φαρμακευτικής Τεχνολογίας, Τμήμα Φαρμακευτικής, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
Introduction:
In clinical practice, hydroxychloroquine (HQ) has been known to improve the clinical status of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The underlying mechanism of action has not been explained yet. At the same time, ubiquinone (Co-enzyme Q10), in addition to its ancillary role in other diseases, -such as cardiovascular diseases-, has been shown to have beneficial effects in autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, by reducing certain inflammatory factors.
Aim of the study:
The aim of the present study was:
A) To investigate whether hydroxychloroquine would ameliorate the immunological markers of cutaneous lupus erythematosus patients, in a parallel effort to examine its possible mechanism of action.
B) To investigate whether ubiquinone would have similar positive impact in patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (already treated with hydroxychloroquine) as in patients with other autoimmune diseases.
Methods:
Twenty one patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus were studied. The patients were divided into two groups (group A and group B). Eleven patients were enrolled in group A and ten patients in group B. Group A patients were drug-free. Group B patients were under treatment with hydroxychloroquine 200mg daily.
A) In group A, the ANA, anti-dsDNA, anti-Ro, anti-LA, C3 and C4 markers were measured at baseline and after five months of treatment with hydroxychloroquine, 200mg daily.
B) In group B, the C3 and C4 markers were measured at baseline and after thirty days of treatment with ubiquinone 200mg, dissolved in olive oil (3.5% w/v) daily, in order to assess the immunological profile of these patients.
Results:
A) Group A: Compared to baseline, there was a statistically significant improvement in C3 (p=0.012) and C4 (p=0.017) levels.
B) Group B: There was no statistically significant difference neither between C3 levels (p=0.247), nor between C4 levels (p=0.213) before and after treatment with ubiquinone 200mg.
Conclusions:
A) In a first attempt to investigate the likelihood of HQ influence on the levels of the immunological markers involved with the disease, it appears that it improves the levels of C3 and C4 markers. Consequently, it seems to lead to an improvement in the patients’ immunological profile and perhaps this suggests a possible mechanism of action (which has not been described so far).
B) Regarding the effect of ubiquinone on C3 and C4 immunological markers in LE patients, this did not appear to result in significant additional improvement compared to HQ monotherapy.
Keywords:
Lupus, Eryhtematosus, Hydroxychloroquine, Ubiquinone
