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[Werther]

What does it exactly do?

I haven't been able to find enough info on the web. I only came to understand that it is used for scleroderma, lupus, reumatoid arthritis and maybe other rheumatological diseases but, besides having antiinflammatory properties, I couldn't understand if it's useful or not in reducing the amount of scar tissue (the name would likely suggest this outcome).

Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Werther]

A quick search on pubmed showed this: "Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is widely used to treat rheumatic and inflammatory diseases. It inhibits inflammation by downregulating the effects of inflammatory cells and their mediators. Although HCQ has been used to treat several fibrotic skin diseases, the mechanisms by which it exerts its effects on human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) have not been studied in detail. In this issue, Ramser et al. show that HCQ inhibits proliferation of HDFs and induces autophagy. These observations are supported by the demonstration that HCQ upregulates Beclin-1, a key regulator of autophagy. Future studies are needed to determine whether HCQ induces autophagy in vivo and whether antimalarials have antifibrotic effects when used in clinically relevant doses" (Hydroxychloroquine induces autophagic cell death of human dermal fibroblasts: implications for treating fibrotic skin diseases - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19749781).

Plaquenil is the brand name of the drug (Hydroxychloroquine): based on the above the name doesn't sound too misleading. Would it be worth giving it a try?

[Hawk]

First, what are the potential side-effects?

Next, if the information is primarily with dermal plaque (skin) and if the studies are in vitro (test tube) rather than in vivo (living specimen) it seems like a long shot to me but I don't know enough to do anything but guess.

[Werther]

I have been reading about lots of drugs besides the one mentioned in this topic that are currently used for rheumatic disorders and apparently showed benefits for the patients (whose conditions seem to show a pattern similar to the peyronie's one: i.e. chronic inflammation of soft tissues and fibrotic responses).

This makes me wondering why peyronie's disease is out of the field of rheumatologists. It's a connective tissue disease after all, isn't it? And connective tissue diseases usually fall under the scrutiny of rheumatologists, no matter what the organ involved is. And it looks like these docs' paraphernalia is much more extensive than the urologists' one (at least when it comes to pharmacological treatments).

I know, I'm just rambling but this ramble connects someway to my questions regarding Plaquenil/Hydroxychloroquine: the paper I linked above and others regarding its use for cystic fibrosis and lung fibrosis seem to suggest its potential efficacy against scar tissue or, more generally, as an antifibrotic agent. Anyhow, since the drug is an antimalarial and no urologist would even come to think of any benefit from such things for urogenital issues, it doesn't even register for testing in rat-models for peyronie's, while it could be maybe effective and even more than current pharmacological treatments (but who can tell for sure if it's not even being tested).

P.S. it looks like there can be serious side effects by taking this drug (e.g. retinopathy which could also result in permanent vision loss) so I'm not advicing anyone to try it on their own (and, by the way, who would do such things simply based on a ramble of an unknown internet user?  ). Nonetheless it could maybe help... If only uros would test more. Instead they are stuck on papers that are decades old (if we talk about the most informed ones that prescribe you pentox instead of verapamil) and I am honestly left under the impression that they prefer to live in their own bubble rather than communicating with specialists from different fields and - hopefully - perfecting their approaches for diseases that somewhat transcend their field (like Peyronie's, that - sorry if I repeat myself - is a connective tissue disorders and should be investigated by other specialist too, such as rheumatologists).

[nemo]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I am actually taking Palquenil (Hydroxychloroquine) for Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. I have also battled Peyronie's multiple times, first in my 30s, and I'm now 50, with a new Peyronies Disease lesion.

I've only been on Plaquenil for a few weeks, and it reportedly takes 2-3 months to "kick in" but this thread caught my eye. I am hoping the Plaquenil does have some antifibrotic effect and will help keeping my current scar tissue from getting worse, or even by reducing it.

I will report back if I see progress.

nemo

Plaquenil (Hydroxychloroquine)

Started by nemo Developmental Drugs & Treatments