Findings could help researchers develop more effective treatments
by Margarida Maia, PhD | June 24, 2025

​Levels of certain types of immune cells are abnormally high in some people with systemic sclerosis (SSc), and this may be linked to serious kidney and lung complications — such as renal crisis and interstitial lung disease (ILD) — according to a study of blood cells from patients.

“Taken together, our single-cell analysis of patient samples show specific abnormalities in distinct subsets of immune [cells] are associated with different clinical symptoms of systemic sclerosis, particularly organ manifestations,” Hiroshi Shimagami, the study’s first author from the University of Osaka in Japan, said in a university press release.

By identifying and tracking these immune cells, doctors may be able to intervene early to prevent severe complications, the study suggests. These findings could also help researchers develop more effective treatments for SSc.
​
The study, “Single-cell analysis reveals immune cell abnormalities underlying the clinical heterogeneity of patients with systemic sclerosis,” was published in Nature Communications. Five of its authors work at Chugai Pharmaceutical, which codeveloped Actemra (tocilizumab), an approved medication for systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD).

More people are aware of the disease today than when I was diagnosed
by Tomisa Starr | June 19, 2025

For many years before I was diagnosed with scleroderma, my skin was normal but I had joint pain. This was while I was still a child. During childhood, I may have had circulation problems, because my hands and feet were always cold. But I hadn’t yet experienced the numbness and color changes of Raynaud’s phenomenon. I felt short of breath when I had never experienced that before. It wasn’t that I had never really felt short of breath at all, but what I felt was more than I was used to.

I seemed to have some symptoms of scleroderma, even back then. This may have been what is now known as “pre-scleroderma,” but I don’t know for sure. Maybe, I will never know.
​
When I was younger, people would sometimes ask me why I wore gloves on warm days or why my skin looked a little different from normal. I was once asked if my skin was burned. I would tell them that I have scleroderma. Almost always, the person would say, “Sclero … what?” That doesn’t happen as much now as it did before.

Researchers grouped patients by internal involvement, not skin symptoms
by Michela Luciano, PhD | June 3, 2025

​The onset of pulmonary hypertension (PH), or high blood pressure in the lungs, may be a critical factor in predicting disease progression and poorer survival in systemic sclerosis (SSc), a study from France suggests.

By grouping patients based on internal organ involvement, rather than relying on traditional classifications based on skin symptoms, the researchers found that the group that included patients who developed PH had significantly lower overall survival rates. The study, “Phenotypes and prognosis of systemic sclerosis: A cluster analysis,” was published in Respiratory Medicine and Research.

SSc, or scleroderma, is an autoimmune disease that causes hardening and scarring of the skin, along with the buildup of scar tissue in internal organs, particularly the lungs, heart, and kidneys, leading to a range of symptoms. Patients have been traditionally classified based on the extent of skin involvement, but this approach often fails to reflect how severely internal organs are affected or to predict how the disease will progress.
​
Besides lung complications such as PH and interstitial lung disease (ILD) — a group of conditions that cause inflammation and scarring in the lungs — other poor prognostic factors in SSc include being male, kidney or heart involvement, and being older.