Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a variable impact on different synovial joints, with inflammation being more commonly observed in some joints than others. Emerging evidence suggests that the anatomical variation in pathophysiology could result in differential responses to treatments across the joints, both within and between modes of action. This analysis aimed to characterize joint-specific responses

Studies evaluating the association of knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA) with falls and fractures have inconsistent findings. We aimed to investigate associations of symptomatic and radiographic knee and hip OA with risk of falls, recurrent falls, and fractures. We conducted an electronic search of databases from inception to February 2023. Two authors independently screened studies, extracted data,

Objectives Complement activation has been advocated as one mechanism by which antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) can induce thrombosis. In patients with catastrophic aPL syndrome or re-thrombosis, enhanced complement activation was shown, even in quiescent phase of the disease. We aimed to assess complement activation and to investigate its association to clinical variables in aPL positive patients

To compare a treat-to-target (T2T) approach and routine care (RC) in adults with active to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) initiating subcutaneous abatacept. A 12-month cluster-randomized trial in active RA patients treated with abatacept was conducted. Physicians were randomized to RC or T2T with a primary endpoint of achieving sustained Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) low disease

Objectives To explore associations between serum adalimumab level, treatment response and drug survival in order to identify therapeutic drug levels for therapeutic drug monitoring of adalimumab. Also, to assess occurrence and risk factors of anti-drug antibody (ADAb) formation. Methods Non-trough adalimumab and ADAb levels were measured by automated fluorescence assays in serum collected after 3 months

Objectives Oral contraceptives (OC) and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) contain exogenous sex hormones and are used by millions of women around the world. However, their effect on development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is still debated and the current literature suggests that they may exert opposite effects on the risk of RA. The present study aimed to estimate the effects of exogenous hormones

Objectives We aimed to comprehensively analyze the available literature to identify the unmet requirements in transitional programs tailored specifically for patients diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Methods According to published guidance on narrative reviews, a systematic review of the literature on transitional care in rheumatology was conducted. Pertinent documents were collected

Objective To estimate mortality and survival rates of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a contemporary, population-based setting and assess potential influences by time, sex, ethnicity, classification criteria and age at diagnosis. Methods We assessed mortality and survival in the Nor-SLE cohort, which includes all chart-review confirmed SLE cases resident in Southeast Norway (population 2.9 million)

Objectives Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most common hereditary monogenic fever syndrome marked by recurrent attacks of fever and polyserositis. Colchicine is the current recommended first-line treatment for FMF. However, a small portion of FMF patients are unresponsive or intolerant to colchicine. Anti-interleukin-1 (anti-IL-1) agents are alternative treatment options for colchicine-resistant

Objective Patients with secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon show a wide range of symptoms depending on the condition of vascular structures. If the symptoms are localized to specific fingers and angiography reveals a discrete segment of occlusion of a proper digital artery, we perform proper digital artery reconstruction with an interposition vein graft. The objective of this study was to evaluate the results

Objective To evaluate the ACR/EULAR 2022 criteria for AAV classification and compare it to the EMA algorithm and to classification based only on ANCA serology. Methods In the analysis, 374 cases (47% female) were classified according to EMA algorithm, ANCA serology, and ACR/EULAR criteria. The agreement rate was calculated using the kappa (κ) statistic. Results Under EMA, 192 patients were classified

Objectives The direct impact of inflammatory conditions and their therapy with corticosteroids both contribute to an increased risk of osteoporosis with associated fractures. Familial-Mediterranean-Fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory disorder not commonly treated with corticosteroids. Evidence regarding FMF association with osteoporosis and femur fractures is anecdotal. We aimed to evaluate the incidence

Objective Illness perceptions are views and beliefs formed in response to a health threat which may influence self-management behaviours and chronic disease outcomes. Despite effective medication, sub-optimal outcomes in gout are common. This study aimed to quantitatively investigate illness perceptions in gout to examine how illness perceptions relate to health outcomes. Methods Data were obtained

Objectives Systemic sclerosis (SSc)-specific autoantibodies allow the diagnosis and predict the prognosis of SSc patients with different clinical characteristics. The aim of this study was to describe new SSc-related autoantibodies by a novel protein immunoprecipitation (IP) assay. Methods Serum samples and clinical data were collected from 307 SSc patients. Antinuclear autoantibodies were tested in

Physical function is an important determinant of health-related quality of life in radiographic axial spondyloarthritis patients (r-axSpA). To improve the basis of effective healthcare efforts, we aimed to investigate which demographic and disease-related factors that influence Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) in r-axSpA patients overall and stratified by sex. Furthermore, we sought

To develop evidence-based consensus recommendations for the optimal timing of hip and knee arthroplasty to improve patient-important outcomes including, but not limited to, pain, function, infection, hospitalization, and death at 1 year for patients with symptomatic and radiographic moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis or advanced symptomatic osteonecrosis with secondary arthritis of the hip or knee who

This work aims to develop a deep learning model, assessing atlantoaxial subluxation (AAS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which can often be ambiguous in clinical practice. We collected 4691 X-ray images of the cervical spine of the 906 patients with RA. Among these images, 3480 were used for training the deep learning model, 803 were used for validating the model during the training process, and the

Dimerization of the myeloid differentiation primary response 88 protein (MyD88) plays a pivotal role in the exacerbated response to innate immunity-dependent signaling in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ST2825 is a highly specific inhibitor of MyD88 dimerization, previously shown to inhibit the pro-inflammatory gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from RA patients (RA PBMC). In this study

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disease and causes chronic pain and disability to the elderly. Several risk factors are involved, such as aging, obesity, genetic susceptibility, and environmental factors. We conducted a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) and chemical-related gene set enrichment analysis (CGSEA) to investigate the susceptibility genes and environmental factors

Objective Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a systemic autoinflammatory disorder. The understanding of the changes in adaptive immune cells and the crosstalk between innate and adaptive immune systems in AOSD is limited. This study aimed to examine the peripheral immune cell composition and inflammatory protein levels in AOSD patients. Methods Twenty-nine active AOSD patients were enrolled. Flow

This study aimed to investigate the long-term effect of vitamin D supplementation compared to placebo over 5 years in participants with knee osteoarthritis (OA). We also aimed to describe the effect of maintaining sufficient serum vitamin D levels over five years in knee OA. Participants (n = 173) from the Hobart centre of the Vitamin D Effects on Osteoarthritis (VIDEO) trial were extensively followed

Previous studies suggested that distinct phenotypes of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) could be determined by presence or absence of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), reflecting predominant vasculitic or eosinophilic processes, respectively. This study explored whether ANCA-based clusters or other clusters can be identified in EGPA.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) treatment is aimed at inducing remission to prevent joint destruction and disability. However, it is unclear what is the long-term impact on health-related outcomes of the timing of biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) initiation in JIA. Our aim was to evaluate the long-term impact of the time between JIA onset and the initiation of a bDMARD in

Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by pervasive pain-related symptomatology and high levels of negative affect. Mind-body treatments such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) appear to foster improvement in FM via reductions in pain-related catastrophizing, a set of negative, pain-amplifying cognitive and emotional processes. However, the neural underpinnings of CBT's catastrophizing-reducing effects

Objective The possibility of combining real and virtual environments is driving the increased use of augmented reality (AR) in education, including medical training. The aim of this multicentre study was to evaluate the students’ perspective on the AR-based Rheumality GO!® app as a new teaching concept, presenting six real anonymised patient cases with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis

Synovial fibroblasts in rheumatoid arthritis (RAFLS) exhibit a pathological aberration of glycolysis and glutaminolysis. Henceforth, we aimed to investigate if dual inhibition of these pathways by phytobiological compound c28MS has the potential of synergistic therapy for arthritis by targeting both glucose and glutamine metabolism. The presence of HK2 and GLS across various cell types and associated

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare complication of primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). Several genes have proven to be associated with pSS and PAH. However, there is no study specifically addressing the genetic susceptibility in pSS combined with PAH. Thirty-four unrelated patients with pSS-PAH were recruited from April 2019 to July 2021 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Demographic

Objectives We aim to identify determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and global functioning and health (GH) in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), peripheral spondyloarthritis (pSpA), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods ASAS-perSpA study data were analyzed. Models for the three patient groups were performed separately to explore factors associated with HRQoL and GH, assessed by EQ-5D

Objectives Paraneoplastic arthritis (PA) is one of the paraneoplastic syndromes. Both laboratory and clinical findings similar to rheumatological diseases can be seen. In this study, we aimed to present the clinical and laboratory findings, malignancy type, and pathological diagnoses of patients with paraneoplastic arthritis. Methods In a multicentre retrospective study, 92 patients with PA from the

Emerging data suggest that the frequency of long-term opioid use is high among individuals with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, which is of concern given the risks of opioid misuse. But is long-term opioid use really that high or is the situation more complicated?

While the availability of biological or targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) has improved outcomes for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, there remains a subset of individuals who fail to achieve low disease activity or remission despite multiple cycles of b/tsDMARDs. This state is referred to as 'difficult-to-treat (D2T)' RA. Data from the Korean College of Rheumatology

Objectives To explore the status of reproductive health and related factors in female patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among female patients from the Chinese Organization for Scleroderma through a questionnaire. Data on the status of reproductive health including fertility condition and menstrual status were obtained. The clinical and laboratory

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the clinical, laboratory and genetic characteristics, and outcomes of patients with AA amyloidosis (AA-a). Methods Patients followed-up in a tertiary referral center in Turkey with the diagnosis of inflammatory rheumatic diseases and immunohistologically proven AA-a were included into the study and retrospectively analyzed. Results Among 184 patients with the

Objectives To describe the clinical features and treatment outcomes of children with juvenile psoriatic arthritis (JPsA) and to compare the distinct patterns of the disease between early-onset and late-onset age groups. Methods Patients with JPsA followed regularly for at least 6 months between 2010–2020 in 7 pediatric rheumatology centers in Turkey were included in the study. The demographic features

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent attacks of fever and polyserositis. Its first description as a new entity was published by Siegal in 1945. Colchicine has been the treatment of choice for this disease since 1972. Significant progress has been made over the years in understanding FMF's clinical features, diagnosis, mode of inheritance

Biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) have revolutionized the management of multiple rheumatic inflammatory conditions. Amongst these, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) display similarities in terms of disease pathophysiology and response pattern to b/tsDMARDs. Indeed, therapeutic efficacy of novel targeted

Objectives To investigate whether the efficacy and safety data from drug-registration trials can be extrapolated to real-life RA patients receiving RTX. Methods The AIR-PR registry is a French multicentre, prospective cohort of RA patients treated with RTX in a real-life setting. We compared treatment responses at 12 months and serious AEs between eligible and non-eligible patients, by retrieving the

Objective To describe the frequency of progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) in an incident cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) related interstitial lung disease (ILD) and its impact on survival. Methods Incident ILD was defined as the new development of characteristic fibrotic changes on chest HRCT scan. PPF was defined as per the 2022 American Thoracic Society. Determinants of PPF were identified using

Objectives Inflammatory arthritis (IA) causes significant work disability. Studies frequently fail to report important contextual information such as employment type. Our objective was to explore work participation, by gender and occupation type in early IA. Methods Data are from the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit between 2018 and 2020. At diagnosis, clinicians collected information on

Osteoarthritis (OA) is driven by low-grade inflammation, and controlling local inflammation may offer symptomatic relief. Here, we developed an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and galectin-3 fusion protein (IDO-Gal3), where IDO increases the production of local anti-inflammatory metabolites and Gal3 binds carbohydrates to extend IDO’s joint residence time. In this study, we evaluated IDO-Gal3’s ability

Upadacitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor, has demonstrated efficacy and an acceptable safety profile in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in the phase III SELECT-AXIS programs. We report the 1-year efficacy and safety in patients with AS and an inadequate response to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD-IR) from the SELECT-AXIS 2 study. Patients ≥ 18 years with active AS who

Objective To investigate real-world effectiveness of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and the association with 1) treatment line (second and third TNFi-series) and 2) reason for withdrawal from the preceding TNFi (lack of efficacy (LOE) versus adverse events (AE)). Methods Prospectively collected routine care data from 12 European registries were

Several observational studies have explored the associations between Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) and certain cancers. Nevertheless, the causal relationships remain unclear. Mendelian randomization (MR) method was used to investigate the causality between SS and different types of cancers. We conducted the two-sample Mendelian randomization with the public genome-wide association studies (GWASs) summary

Correction: Arthritis Res Ther 25, 150 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-023-03125-4 Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported that the corrections were not carried out during the revisions. The corrections are provided below and the changes have been set in bold typeface. Author details: 1 Department of Medicine 3 – Rheumatology and Immunology, Universitatsklinikum

Nail psoriasis is a common, physiologically, and psychologically disruptive, and yet often under-treated manifestation of psoriasis. The objectives of this analysis were to investigate the trajectory of nail psoriasis, a risk factor for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), with guselkumab vs adalimumab treatment followed by withdrawal, and determine characteristics associated with nail response in patients treated

Anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5)-positive dermatomyositis with interstitial lung disease (DM-ILD) progresses rapidly and has a poor prognosis. Recently, we reported the efficacy of a combination therapy comprising high-dose glucocorticoids (GCs), calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs), and intravenous cyclophosphamide (IVCY) in a multicenter clinical trial (UMIN000014344). In the present

To evaluate knee and multi-joint osteoarthritis (KOA and MJOA) and compare features by sex and race/ethnicity in a population-based cohort.

To study changes in retention of first biologic DMARD therapy over a period of 15 years in an inception cohort of patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS).

I am very much enjoying your trip down memory lane looking back at important articles in The Journal of Rheumatology I was especially interested in your "Looking Back at the 1990s." I would like to point out an important milestone in The Journal that also took place in the 1990s, that is, the establishment of Pediatric Rheumatology as a section in The Journal.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2022 guidelines for nonpharmacologic management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) include a conditional recommendation for physical therapy (PT).1 Known disparities by socioeconomic status (SES) and race and ethnicity in RA prevalence, patient-reported outcomes of function, disease activity, and access exist and persist over time.2,3.

Gout is a common condition characterized by the deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in articular and nonarticular structures.1 The formation of MSU crystals has been reported in atypical locations such as the eye, nose, spine, and viscera.2.

Children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) and antibodies to melanoma differentiation associated gene 5 (anti-MDA5) are at increased risk of severe disease complications, including interstitial lung disease (ILD). Data regarding treatment of disease complications in this patient population is limited. In this study, we examined the disease course of children with JDM and anti-MDA5 antibodies before

there is no front line everything is war front territory of the organism under attack enemy takes control.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that continues into adulthood in approximately 50% of patients.1 Growth considerations are unique to pediatric-onset disease and can lead to permanent joint damage.

We have previously reported elevated levels of the complement lectin pathway proteins L-ficolin and H-ficolin in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) patients compared with healthy controls. The aim of this study was to investigate these biomarkers in a cross-sectional cohort of patients suffering from low back pain (LBP). Furthermore, we aimed to investigate changes in lectin pathway protein levels after