Table 3.

Clinical trials of peptide immunotherapy with heat shock protein (HSP) peptides in autoimmune diseases

	Trial name	Design	Type of therapy	Peptide	Route	Patient group	Immunomodulatory effects	Clinical efficacy†	Reference
Diabetes	DiaPep277	Phase II	Parenteral peptide	p277 (HSP60 437–460)	s.c.	New-onset T1D	Increased IL-10 production by T cells is associated with preservation of C-peptide up to 12–18 months	Lower need for exogenous insulin	Huurma, Clin Exp Immunol 2008
RA		Phase II	Oral peptide	DnaJP1 peptide (HSP40)	Oral	RA	Immune diviation from TNF-α to IL-10, peptide-induced FoxP3 expression on CD25bright cells	ACR20 and ACR50 score reduced	Koffeman, Arthritis Rheum 2009

^†ACR 20, ACR50, measurements of improvement in rheumatoid arthritis. T1D: type 1 diabetes; RA: rheumatoid arthritis; IL: interleukin; TNF: tumour necrosis factor.