Effectiveness and Safety of Lidocaine for Scleroderma

Summary

Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases. The disease is characterized by thickening and fibrosis skin, affecting vessels and many organs such as the esophagus, stomach, bowls, lung, heart and kidney. The exact cause or causes of scleroderma are still unknown, but scientists and medical investigators in a wide variety of fields are working hard to make those determinations. It is known that scleroderma involves overproduction of collagen. FLICKMAN et al, in 1973 published an article about the role of lidocaine at prolyl-hydroxylase activity decrease, which is an important enzyme of collagen production. Until now, there is only a case series showing the improvement of thickening skin (75%) and esophagus symptoms (66%) after intravenous lidocaine 2% during 10 days. So it is necessary a RCT to prove these findings.

Timeline

Start

2004-04

Primary completion

2006-04

Completion

2007-04

Publications

• Background Jimenez SA, Hitraya E, Varga J. Pathogenesis of scleroderma. Collagen. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 1996 Nov;22(4):647-74. doi: 10.1016/s0889-857x(05)70294-5.

Drugs

Indications