Corinna Sison, MD

A high-dose trivalent vaccine may enhance antibody production against influenza in people with RA.

Patients with scleroderma-associated isolated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) have a slightly higher mortality risk than patients SSc-PAH with concomitant interstitial lung disease.

WASHINGTON, DC — Treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with ixekizumab (IXE)—an IgG4 monoclonal antibody—significantly improves arthritis, dactylitis and enthesitis at 52-weeks, according to research presented at the 2016 American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting. Philip J Mease, MD, at the Swedish Medical Center and the University of Washington, and colleagues conducted a phase 3 study…

Beta-blocker use was associated with less joint pain and lower use of opioids in patients with symptomatic, large joint radiographic OA.

In this meta-analysis, the researchers found that all TNF-α inhibitors were more effective at treating AS than placebo in direct comparisons, but no differences in efficacy or safety were found between individual TNF-α inhibitors in indirect comparisons.

Selective inhibition of JAK1 and JAK2 with baricitinib resulted in clinical improvements in RA symptoms and inhibited joint structural disease progression in patients with active RA who have failed csDMARDs.

The European League Against Rheumatism has released updated management guidelines to address cardiovascular disease risk assessment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory arthritides.

An analysis of patients with IP in the Norfolk Arthritis Register found that predictors for a lower likelihood of remission included female sex, baseline higher tender joint count or disability, depression, obesity, and hypertension.

Antibody concentrations against antigen epitopes of the oral pathogen P gingivalis appear to increase prior to the onset of RA symptoms, suggesting that P gingivalis may be associated with RA pathogenesis.

IL-17A blockade resulted in inhibition of the progression of structural joint damage, suggesting that IL-17A plays a key role in PsA pathogenesis.

Strategies to decreased risk of contracting varicella zoster virus need to be addressed in particularly susceptible populations, like those with autoimmune disease.

Data from a long-term population-based cohort in Taiwan suggest an association between infection with HIV and the development of certain autoimmune diseases.

A recently published study assessed the impact of screening for carotid plaques in asymptomatic patients with PsA.

Study attempts to determine whether targeting ultrasound-defined remission in RA improves clinical outcomes.

In the first study simultaneously evaluating sepsis and sepsis-related mortality in RA patients with serious infection, researchers found that any bDMARD exposure significantly lowered mortality rates.

New data analyzed including over 120 000 patient years of tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) or conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (csDMARD) exposure did not find an increased risk of lymphoma in the 8 year followup period after TNFi initiation.

In addition to traditional cardiovascular risk factors, increased PsA disease activity also appears to increase cardiovascular risk.

A subset of patients receiving methotrexate monotherapy who achieve “good” EULAR response still have residual pain at 3 months post-treatment initiation.

Although levels of aPL decreased throughout pregnancy, these changes were not found to be associated with changes in adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Incidence of ischemic stroke does not appear to be influenced by exposure to tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-inhibitor use in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Radiographic disease progression, including erosion, was inhibited by secukinumab in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) has published its updated recommendations for the management of gout, reflecting updated data included in a meta-analysis by a task force.

Data from a new study suggests that creatine supplementation increases muscle mass, but does not improve strength, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Dermal joint temperature may become a screening test to quickly and accurately identify individual RA patients at high risk for radiographic damage.

Bone and joint trauma were independently associated with increased risk of psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis

The 6MWD may not accurately serve as a surrogate indicator of treatment outcomes, and that changes in cardiac hemodynamics in response to treatment in patients with SSc-PAH may not be reliably gauged from the 6MWD.

Data from a large German cohort found a greater risk for lower intestinal perforation with tocilizumab as compared with conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Patients with PM or DM had an increased prevalence of cardiac abnormalities, most commonly left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, compared with healthy controls.

Male patients with ankylosing spondylitis had significant decreases in both total and appendicular lean mass, which were both related to higher disease activity and bone loss.

The Renal Activity Index for Lupus (RAIL) was developed by researchers utilizing urinary biomarkers of LN as a way non-invasively assess degrees of LN inflammation.