The Handoff: Your Week in Rheumatology News – 4/14/17

• The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons released a new clinical practice guideline on treating osteoarthritis of the hip. The new guideline recommends pre-surgical treatments, including corticosteroid injections and physical therapy, while strongly recommending against the use of hyaluronic acid or glucosamine sulfate to minimize osteoarthritis.
• Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced plans for a Phase III trial for the development of investigational drug voclosporin for the treatment of active lupus nephritis. Phase III of the AURORA trial is expected to be a global 52-week double blind, placebo controlled study of 320 patients.
• Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System found that obese women may normally have higher levels of C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. This high rate may lead to a misdiagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis or require adjustments to treatment strategies.
• Denosumab, a monoclonal antibody approved to treat bone loss in multiple myeloma, was found safe to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis. In a 3-year clinical trial, the drug significantly reduced new vertebral fractures by 68%, hip fractures by 40%, and nonvertebral fractures by 20%.
• The Lupus Low Disease Activity State was found to predict the risk of future lupus flare-ups but there is no evidence as of yet that it is associated with less lupus-related damage or lower mortality rates. In their study, researchers stated that LLDAS was achieved by 92.6% of patients.
• A study published in Arthritis Care & Research states that women who drank a moderate amount of alcohol daily had a reduced risk of developing systemic lupus erythmatosus.
• Research presented at the Endocrine Society’s 99^th annual meeting states that prolonged insomnia may lead to lower bone formation, causing osteoporosis and bone fractures. Researchers found that the healthy participants had reduced levels of a marker of bone formation in their blood after 3 weeks of sleep restriction and circadian disruption.
• The effects of osteoporosis medications on bone mineral density, fracture risk, and safety for patients with chronic kidney disease are not clearly established according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Bisphosphonates slowed bone mineral density in patients who underwent a kidney transplant, but its effect on fractures was unclear. 

• Watch below as Faisal Mirza, MD, of Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, California, discusses the different causes of osteoporosis in men, a shift in testosterone balance and aging, and in women, related to the estrogen change after menopause.

 

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