Myositis refers to inflammatory muscle diseases — including polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy — where the immune system attacks muscle fibers, causing weakness and sometimes skin involvement. It is a rare autoimmune disease with specific antibody subtypes that predict different organ complications.
What's actually going on in research
JAK inhibitors are being tested for dermatomyositis and other myositis subtypes based on the strong role of interferon-driven inflammation. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has proven effective in dermatomyositis and is being studied for maintenance dosing and combination with corticosteroid-sparing agents. Anti-CD20 and anti-interferon antibodies are in trials particularly for patients with interstitial lung disease complicating myositis.
JAK inhibitors
Ruxolitinib and other JAK inhibitors target interferon-driven inflammation in dermatomyositis. Trials are testing them for skin disease, muscle strength, and interstitial lung disease.
IVIG and corticosteroid-sparing
Intravenous immunoglobulin reduces dermatomyositis skin and muscle symptoms. Trials are testing IVIG for maintenance and comparing corticosteroid-sparing approaches including azathioprine and mycophenolate.
Anti-interferon therapy
Type I interferon is a key driver of dermatomyositis inflammation. Anifrolumab and sifalimumab target the interferon receptor or ligand and are in trials for skin and muscle manifestations.
What to know before you search
Eligibility requires confirmed inflammatory myopathy with specified myositis-specific antibody, muscle enzyme elevation, and muscle biopsy findings.
What types of trials are currently open
- Immunosuppression trials — Testing new corticosteroid-sparing drugs, rituximab, and combination regimens for myositis.
- JAK inhibitor trials — Evaluating JAK inhibitors for dermatomyositis skin and muscle disease.
- Interstitial lung disease trials — Testing treatments for progressive pulmonary fibrosis complicating antisynthetase syndrome and other myositis subtypes.
- Rehabilitation trials — Comparing exercise therapy programs for strength recovery in inflammatory myopathy.
- Biomarker trials — Correlating myositis-specific antibodies with disease course, organ involvement, and treatment response.
Recently added Myositis trials
Clinical Characteristics and Mechanism Research of Deucravacitinib in the Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies
This study aims to explore the clinical characteristics and mechanism of Deucravacitinib in the treatment of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.Detailed Description: The investigators designed a single center, open-label, prospective study. Adults with active idiopathic inflammatory myopathies will be enrolled, meeting the Bohan \& Peter Dermatomyositis/Polymyositis(DM/PM) or Rheumatology(ACR) \& European allance of associations for rheumatology(EULAR)(2017) diagnostic criteria. Deucravacitinib 6 mg once a day was administered for 6 months to explore its efficacy and safety, which could help to evaluate Deucravacitinib clinical characteristics and mechanism. Patients would be evaluated the improvement of clinical and laboratory indexes. Changes of symptoms, immune cell subsets and cytokines were monitored. Symptoms were evaluated by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of patient global and physician global, manual muscle testing(MMT-8), the Health Assessment Questionnaire(HAQ), Creatine kinase, Myositis Disease Activity Assessment Tool(MDAAT).
Exploratory Clinical Study of Anti-CD19/BCMA Universal CAR-T Cell Injection for the Treatment of Refractory Autoimmune Diseases
A single arm, open-label pilot study is designed to determine the safety and effectiveness of anti-CD19/BCMA-UCAR-T cells in patients with autoimmune diseases. 36-72 patients are planned to be enrolled in the dose-escalation trial.
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