Gender imbalance in expert panels of recommendations in rheumatology
Gender imbalance is a major source of inequity in the society. Inequality is an enduring topic also in medical research, as disparities in the participation of individuals based on their gender may potentially influence the research outcomes. Gender inequality often manifests as a lower representation of women as study authors or even their complete absence from research teams. Underlying causes may stem from differences in educational levels, gender-based discrimination and other factors.1 2 For example, in many countries, women still do the majority of unpaid domestic tasks such as childcare and housework.3 Women with ch...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Luo, X., Ren, Y., Chen, Y. Tags: ARD Letter Source Type: research
Immunomodulators and risk for breakthrough COVID-19 after third SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine among patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a cohort study
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends three SARS-CoV-2 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine doses, rather than two, to complete the initial vaccine series for immunosuppressed patients. However, they may remain at risk for breakthrough COVID-19 due to immunomodulators that blunt vaccine responses.1 Identifying patients at highest risk for breakthrough COVID-19 can prioritise resources for prevention. Therefore, we investigated the risk of breakthrough COVID-19 among fully vaccinated patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and/or glucocor...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Schiff, A. E., Wang, X., Patel, N. J., Kawano, Y., Hanberg, J. L., Kowalski, E. N., Cook, C. E., Vanni, K. M., Qian, G., Bade, K. J., Saavedra, A. A., Srivatsan, S., Williams, Z. K., Venkat, R. K., Wallace, Z. S., Sparks, J. A. Tags: ARD, COVID-19 Letter Source Type: research
Validation of the definition of rheumatoid arthritis flare based on SDAI and CDAI in clinical practice in two French independent cohorts
New definitions for flares in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on the Simplified and Clinical Disease Activity Indices (SDAI, CDAI) have been recently introduced.1 In this article, the authors defined flare as an absolute increase of 4.7 in SDAI and 4.5 in CDAI. Following this proposal we aimed at studying these cut-off values for absolute increases in SDAI and CDAI in diagnosing self-reported flares and treatment escalation in two separate real-world cohorts of patients with RA in France. The first cohort included 101 patients with established RA,2 recruited between May 2016 and February 2018 and annually evaluated in day ...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Avouac, J., Hecquet, S., Thomas, M., Combier, A., Carves, S., Allanore, Y. Tags: ARD Letter Source Type: research
Vasculitis that did not read the books
A 29-year-old woman presented to our rheumatology clinic with a 6-month history of cough, dysphonia, dyspnoea and weight loss. She also complained of a lump in her throat (globus pharyngeus), left otalgia and hearing loss. One month before evaluation, she started experiencing blood-tinged sputum and dyspnoea. On clinical examination, the patient had nasal discharge, crusting and congestion, laryngeal oedema, stridor, tympanic membrane retraction and external auditory canal ecchymosis. Laboratory findings showed anaemia (haemoglobin: 75.4 g/L, normal: 122.0–181.9), lymphocytosis 4.63x109/L (normal: 0.60x109–3.4x...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Bardan-Inchaustegui, A. C., Esquivel-Valerio, J. A., Castillo-de la Garza, R. d. J., Cardenas-de la Garza, J. A., Gonzalez-Gonzalez, V., Galarza-Delgado, D. A. Tags: ARD, Images in rheumatology Source Type: research
Associations of residential greenness with bone mineral density and osteoporosis: the modifying effect of genetic susceptibility
Conclusions
Residential greenness was associated with higher bone mineral density and decreased risk of incident osteoporosis. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Tan, T., Tang, L., Guo, X., Li, T., Tian, Y., Ouyang, Z. Tags: Editor's choice, Press releases, ARD Lay summaries, ARD, Osteoporosis Source Type: research
Prognostic model to predict the incidence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis
Conclusion
A novel prognostic model based on common clinical variables and protein biomarkers was developed and externally validated to predict rKOA incidence over a 96-month period in individuals without any radiographic signs of disease. The resulting nomogram is a useful tool for stratifying high-risk populations and could potentially lead to personalised medicine strategies for treating OA. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Paz-Gonzalez, R., Balboa-Barreiro, V., Lourido, L., Calamia, V., Fernandez-Puente, P., Oreiro, N., Ruiz-Romero, C., Blanco, F. J. Tags: Open access, ARD, Osteoarthritis Source Type: research
Withdrawal of immunosuppressants and low-dose steroids in patients with stable IgG4-RD (WInS IgG4-RD): an investigator-initiated, multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial
Conclusions
The maintenance of IMs, with or without low-dose GC, was found to be superior to withdraw GC+IM in preventing relapse for long-time stable IgG4-RD.
Trial registration number
NCT04124861. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Peng, L., Nie, Y., Zhou, J., Wu, L., Chen, X., Wang, F., Li, J., Peng, Y., Lu, H., Zhao, L., Li, M., Zhao, Y., Zeng, X., Fei, Y., Zhang, W. Tags: ARD, IgG4 related disease Source Type: research
Deep immunophenotyping reveals that autoimmune and autoinflammatory disorders are spread along two immunological axes capturing disease inflammation levels and types
Conclusions
We have refined the monodimensional continuum of autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases as a continuum characterised by both disease inflammation levels and targeted tissues. Such classification should be helpful for defining therapies. Our results call for further investigations into the role of the LAG3+/ICOS+ balance in Tregs and the contribution of ILC3s in autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases.
Trial registration number
NCT02466217. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Tchitchek, N., Binvignat, M., Roux, A., Pitoiset, F., Dubois, J., Marguerit, G., Saadoun, D., Cacoub, P., Sellam, J., Berenbaum, F., Hartemann, A., Amouyal, C., Lorenzon, R., Mariotti-Ferrandiz, E., Rosenzwajg, M., Klatzmann, D. Tags: Open access, ARD, Autoimmunity Source Type: research
Single-cell transcriptome analyses reveal disturbed decidual homoeostasis in obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome
Conclusion
This study provided a comprehensive decidual cell landscape and identified aberrant decidual microenvironment in OAPS, providing some potential therapeutic targets for this disease. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Lu, C., Gao, R., Qing, P., Zeng, X., Liao, X., Cheng, M., Qin, L., Liu, Y. Tags: ARD, Autoimmunity Source Type: research
Single-cell profiling reveals kidney CD163+ dendritic cell participation in human lupus nephritis
Conclusion
The intricate interplay involving DC3s, T cells and tubular epithelial cells within kidneys may substantially contribute to LN pathogenesis. The enumeration of renal DC3 holds potential as a valuable stratification feature for guiding LN patient treatment decisions in clinical practice. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Chen, W., Jin, B., Cheng, C., Peng, H., Zhang, X., Tan, W., Tang, R., Lian, X., Diao, H., Luo, N., Li, X., Fan, J., Shi, J., Yin, C., Wang, J., Peng, S., Yu, L., Li, J., Wu, R.-Q., Kuang, D.-M., Shi, G.-P., Zhou, Y., Wang, F., Jiang, X. Tags: ARD, Autoimmunity Source Type: research
Comparison of the effect of treatment with NSAIDs added to anti-TNF therapy versus anti-TNF therapy alone on the progression of structural damage in the spine over 2 years in patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis from the randomised-controlled CONSUL trial
Conclusions
Combination therapy with GOL+CEL did not demonstrate statistically significant superiority over GOL monotherapy in retarding radiographic spinal progression over 2 years in r-axSpA. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Proft, F., Torgutalp, M., Muche, B., Rios Rodriguez, V., Listing, J., Protopopov, M., Rademacher, J., Haibel, H., Spiller, L., Weber, A.-K., Verba, M., Brandt-Juergens, J., Kiltz, U., Sieburg, M., Jacki, S., Sieper, J., Poddubnyy, D. Tags: Open access, ARD Lay summaries, ARD, Spondyloarthritis Source Type: research
Can rheumatologists unequivocally diagnose axial spondyloarthritis in patients with chronic back pain of less than 2 years duration? Primary outcome of the 2-year SPondyloArthritis Caught Early (SPACE) cohort
Conclusion
A diagnosis of d-axSpA can be reliably made in nearly one-third of patients with CBP referred to the rheumatologist, but diagnostic uncertainty may persist in 5%–30% after 2y. Repeated assessments yield is modest, but repeating MRI may be worthwhile in male HLA-B27+ patients. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Marques, M. L., Ramiro, S., van Lunteren, M., Stal, R. A., Landewe, R. B., van de Sande, M., Fagerli, K. M., Berg, I. J., van Oosterhout, M., Exarchou, S., Ramonda, R., van der Heijde, D., van Gaalen, F. A. Tags: ARD, Spondyloarthritis Source Type: research
Proinflammatory phenotype of B10 and B10pro cells elicited by TNF-{alpha} in rheumatoid arthritis
Conclusions
TNF-α provoked the proinflammatory phenotype of B10 and B10pro cells by disturbing SHIP-1 in RA, contributing to the disease development. Reinstating the immunosuppressive property of B10 and B10pro cells might represent novel therapeutic approaches for RA. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Hu, F., Shi, L., Liu, X., Chen, Y., Zhang, X., Jia, Y., Liu, X., Guo, J., Zhu, H., Liu, H., Xu, L., Li, Y., Wang, P., Fang, X., Xue, J., Xie, Y., Wei, C., Song, J., Zheng, X., Liu, Y.-Y., Li, Y., Ren, L., Xu, D., Lu, L., Qiu, X., Mu, R., He, J., Wang, M., Tags: ARD, Rheumatoid arthritis Source Type: research
EPO promotes the progression of rheumatoid arthritis by inducing desialylation via increasing the expression of neuraminidase 3
Conclusion
EPO, as a proinflammatory factor, accelerates the process of RA through transcriptional upregulation of the expression of NEU3 by JAK2/STAT5 pathway. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Wu, G., Cao, B., Zhai, H., Liu, B., Huang, Y., Chen, X., Ling, H., Ling, S., Jin, S., Yang, X., Wang, J. Tags: Open access, ARD, Rheumatoid arthritis Source Type: research
Comorbidity clusters in patients with rheumatoid arthritis identify a patient phenotype with a favourable prognosis
Conclusions
More than 40% of patients with prevalent RA did not experience worse mortality than their peers without RA. The cluster with the worst prognosis (<10% of patients with prevalent RA) was older, had more comorbidities and had less disease-modifying antirheumatic drug and biological use compared with the other clusters. Comorbidity patterns may hold the key to moving beyond a one-size-fits-all perspective of RA prognosis. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - April 11, 2024 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Crowson, C. S., Atkinson, E. J., Kronzer, V. L., Kimbrough, B. A., Arment, C. A., Peterson, L. S., Wright, K., Mason, T. G., Bekele, D. I., Davis, J. M., Myasoedova, E. Tags: ARD, Rheumatoid arthritis Source Type: research
