American College of Rheumatology

Philip Mease shared that he and his team are in the midst of preparing the content of the studies for publication to ensure continued education of psoriatic arthritis treatment.

At the ACR/ARHP annual meeting in Washington, DC, Philip Mease, MD, Swedish Medical Center, University of Washington, discussed the highlights from two psoriatic arthritis studies, OPAL Broaden and OPAL Beyond.

In a post-hoc analysis, researchers found that the clinical efficacy of tofacitinib after 6 months of treatment was greater than placebo, and appeared similar regardless of methotrexate dose.

A review of six Phase 3 studies shows that tofacitinib is more effective for rheumatoid arthritis treatment than regimens including placebo and a disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug or methotrexate as monotherapy or in combination therapy.

In a phase 3 study, ixekizumab showed significant, clinically meaningful improvements of disease activity and physical function for patients with psoriatic arthritis.

In patients with active rheumatoid arthritis symtoms that persisted even though they were taking methotrexate, baricitinib (Lilly/Incyte) treatment led to "significant improvements" researchers reported at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who received sarilumab plus a DMARD who did not respond to anti-TNF medications showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful changes from baseline in fatigue, morning stiffness, pain, productivity, and participation at week 24.

Results from the MEASURE 1 trial suggest that about 80% of patients with ankylosing spondylitis had no radiographic progression in the spine on x-ray assessment after a 2-year course of secukinumab.

Patients with persistently active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) benefit from repository corticotropin injection (RCI).

Blocking IL-23p19 with an investigational Boehringer-Ingelheim compound called BI 655066 got better results than ustekinumab (Stelara/Janssen) in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis

Other than joint replacement, not much works in treating osteoarthritis of the knee. A Brazilian research team said it has had success with intra-articular injections of ozone.

Compared with placebo, treatment with odanacatib consistently reduced fracture risk across a range of subgroups in a phase 3 clinical trial.

In phase 2 data, ABT-494 showed a significant dose response over placebo in treating rheumatoid arthritis.

A biologic agent called SB5 worked as well adalimumab,researchers reported at the American College of Rheumatology meeting in San Francisco, CA.

A New York City research team believes that clinical SLE disease is associated with microbiome imbalances, specifically with decreases in the diversity and blooms of specific operational taxonomic units in the intestine.

Patients who had bariatric surgery and lost weight were likely to also see improvement in symptoms of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, NYU Langone researchers report.

Estimates on the prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the US vary widely. To remedy that situation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supported four health departments and the Indian Health Service in efforts to get better data.

A Swiss team found that tocilizumab (Actemra/Genentech) was effective in treating newly diagnosed or relapsed patients with giant cell arteritis.

A UK team reporting at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA said it found that adalimumab (Humira/AbbVie) helped patients who had active JIA-associated uveitis

Study results show treatment with tofacitinib imrpveos symptoms in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

A multinational group known as GRAPPA has compiled a new set of treatment recommendations for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

Giant cell arteritis is effectively treated with glucocorticoids, but they have side effects and patients tend to relapse. Researchers evaluated abatacept combined with prednisone and saw fewer relapses.

A research team in the UK looked at how well rituximab (Rituxan/Genentech) improved the Sjogren's Syndrome symptoms of fatigue and dry mouth.

Although gout has historically been thought to be a rare in patients with SLE, a recent case series suggests that the incidence of gout in SLE may be greater than previously thought, University of Michigan researchers report.

Reporting at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco, a team from Japan reported on a novel humanized monoclonal antibody called E6011, one that targets fractalkine-CX3CR1, with a research goal of stopping the chemokine's accumulation in inflamed tissues in rheumatoid arthritis.

Researchers have found several urinary biomarkers that may be used to predict rheumatoid arthritis activity and prognosis.

Compared to placebo and treatment with adalimumab, treatment with once-daily oral baricitinib was associated with significant clinical improvements in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Intra-articular injection of two widely used plant and mineral extract-based formulations provide long-lasting pain relief in patients with moderate to severe pain from knee osteoarthritis, according to the first-ever double-blind trial of the treatments.

A "biosimilar" form of etanercept is clinically equivalent to the branded form for rheumatoid arthritis, according to data presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

A blood test may offer a reliable way to identify rheumatoid arthritis patients who are unlikely to respond to anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors, speeding treatment with other drugs and lowering costs.