Autoantibody Reduction Therapy in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Exclusion Criteria

• •Diagnoses of current infection, proven or suspected by participating physicians based upon their clinical assessments.
• •Presence of active hepatitis B or C, or HIV infection. Presence of positive CONVENTIONAL autoimmune serologic tests, e.g., Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA), Rheumatoid Factor (RF), Anti-Ro, Anti-LA, Anti-Ribonucleoprotein Antibodies (RNP), Anti-Jo-1.
• •History of reaction to murine-derived products or any of the trial medications, or prior exposures to human-murine chimeric antibodies.
• •Malignancy, excluding basal or squamous cell skin cancer and low-risk prostate cancer, defined as stage T1 or T2a with Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) less than 10 ng/dl.
• •Unwillingness to complete post-treatment surveillance for 9 months. Diagnosis of major morbidities (aside from IPF) expected to interfere with subjects' study participation for 9 months.
• •Treatment for \>5 days within the preceding month with \>10 mg. prednisone (or equivalent corticosteroid) or any treatment during the preceding month with a potent cellular immunosuppressant (e.g., cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, mycophenolate, azathioprine, calcineurin inhibitors, etc.).
• •Uncontrolled diabetes or hypertension that preclude safe treatment with methylprednisolone.
• •Concurrent participation in other experimental trials.
• •Pregnancy or unwillingness to use contraception during the duration of the study among female participants with child-bearing potential.
• •Ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) \<70% of predicted values.