Lana Pine

Recent findings suggest that methotrexate reduces humoral vaccination response against COVID-19 in older, but not younger, patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending October 15, 2022.

“Failed or inadequate response to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) is associated with poor prognosis," investigators noted.

Supplementation with probiotics was shown to improve hyperuricemia and symptoms of gout, among other inflammatory diseases.

Higher PGI scores, which signify better quality of life, were positively correlated with all SF-12 subscales except for role emotional.

The neutralizing serum activity against variants in patients receiving methotrexate only increased 20-23-fold after booster vaccination, while the serum activity in those in the non-immunosuppressed group increased 67-73-fold.

The study examined ozoralizumab without concomitant therapy, as methotrexate cannot be given to all patients with rheumatoid arthritis due to inadequate efficacy and tolerability.

Preventing chronic damage accrual is one of the top treatment targets, as it is linked to increased mortality and decreased quality of life.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending October 8, 2022.

A statistically significant elevated risk of SLE was shown among women with low sleep, depression, and bodily pain when compared with those without these concomitant issues.

The single-center, cross-sectional study assessed chair rise time, gait speed, and grip strength to determine the prevalence of sarcopenia.

“Importantly, several different immunomodulation agents may be effective for increasing treatment response rates and seem well tolerated by patients with uncontrolled gout."

This MBDA score has been validated to correlate with the disease activity score, including a 28-joint count and CRP (DAS28-CRP), in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

"Surveys of patients with SLE and other autoimmune and inflammatory rheumatic diseases have identified vaccine hesitancy in up to 50% of patients, which may be related to concerns about side effects, potential disease flares, or lack of data among patients with SLE.”

Results underline the importance of psychiatric evaluation and treatment in patients with fibromyalgia.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending October 1, 2022.

A long-term, post-authorization safety study of adverse events was performed for patients with PsO and/or PsA exposed to apremilast.

The 3-stage Delphi exercise used the expertise of medical and health care professionals with experience in treating patients with fibromyalgia. Treatment recommendations included exercise, education, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and mind-body exercises.

Although the proportion of women treated with biologics continues to grow, data on treatment recommendations among both physicians and female patients of childbearing age remain limited.

Throughout the pandemic, rheumatologists have been concerned that their patients may be at risk of developing more severe forms of the COVID-19 disease as a result of their rheumatic disease or treatment.

“This class of medication provides an alternative therapeutic option for those that have an inadequate response to conventional DMARDs or biologic therapy.”

Terence Rooney, MD, discusses the ongoing STAR study in depth and the potential of guselkumab to improve axial psoriatic arthritis.

Kim Bennell, PhD, discusses her study “Effectiveness of an Unsupervised Online Yoga Program on Pain and Function in People With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.”

Although results are promising, findings should be interpreted with caution, as the study was underpowered and terminated early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending September 24, 2022.

Bonnie L Bermas, MD, discusses the ways in which the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade will change the way rheumatologists are able to care for their patients.

Although results were associative rather than causative, a decrease in BMI may prevent, delay, or slow the structural defects in knee osteoarthritis.

"Dactylitis is considered a core domain of musculoskeletal symptoms in psoriatic arthritis and is important for both patients and physicians when developing treatment strategies.”

Fatigue, a highly multifactorial manifestation of lupus, can be related to disease activity or independent of the disease itself. Investigators determined whether fatigue could be a significant confounder of Physician Global Assessment ratings.

"Online interventions have the potential to reach a wide audience, allowing exercise to be undertaken from the comfort and convenience of home and thereby overcoming some of the barriers to exercise reported in the osteoarthritis population.”