Arthritis research & therapy
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Feb 2017
The impact of arthritis and joint pain on individual healthcare expenditures: findings from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), 2011.
Joint pain, including back pain, and arthritis are common conditions in the United States, affecting more than 100 million individuals and costing upwards of $200 billion each year. Although activity limitations associated with these disorders impose a substantial economic burden, this relationship has not been explored in a large U.S. cohort. ⋯ The growing economic and public health burden of arthritis and joint pain, as well as the corresponding complications of functional, activity, and sensory limitations, calls for an interdisciplinary approach and heightened awareness among providers to identify strategies that meet the needs of high-risk patients in order to prevent and delay disease progression.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Dec 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialChanges in plasma CXCL4 levels are associated with improvements in lung function in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy for systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease.
Increased circulatory levels of the chemokine CXCL4 have been associated with the presence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in an observational study of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between baseline CXCL4 level and extent of ILD in the context of a randomized controlled trial and to determine whether changes in CXCL4 levels in response to immunosuppression are associated with future progression of SSc-ILD. ⋯ Levels of CXCL4 were higher in patients with SSc-ILD compared with controls and decreased in all patients treated with immunosuppressive therapy. While CXCL4 levels were not correlated with extent of ILD at baseline, changes in CXCL4 at 12 months predicted future progression of SSc-ILD from 12 to 24 months. These findings suggest that intermediate-term changes in CXCL4 may have predictive significance for long-term progression of SSc-ILD in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Dec 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEfficacy and safety of adult human bone marrow-derived, cultured, pooled, allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells (Stempeucel®): preclinical and clinical trial in osteoarthritis of the knee joint.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common and debilitating chronic degenerative disease of the joints. Currently, cell-based therapy is being explored to address the repair of damaged articular cartilage in the knee joint. ⋯ Intra-articular administration of Stempeucel® is safe. A twenty-five-million-cell dose may be the most effective among the doses tested for pain reduction. Clinical studies with a larger patient population are required to demonstrate a robust therapeutic efficacy of Stempeucel® in OA.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Dec 2016
Comparative Study Observational StudyComparative effectiveness of abatacept versus tocilizumab in rheumatoid arthritis patients with prior TNFi exposure in the US Corrona registry.
We compared the effectiveness of abatacept (ABA) vs tocilizumab (TCA) in tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) experienced patients. ⋯ Patients receiving either ABA or TCZ had substantial improvement in clinical disease activity. In this propensity score-matched sample, similar outcomes were observed for both treatment cohorts.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Nov 2016
Comparative StudyComparison of treatment response, remission rate and drug adherence in polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients treated with etanercept, adalimumab or tocilizumab.
Treatment response, remission rates and compliance in patients with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (polyJIA) treated with adalimumab, etanercept, or tocilizumab were analyzed in clinical practice. ⋯ In clinical practice, etanercept is most frequently used as first-line biologic. Adalimumab/etanercept/tocilizumab showed comparable efficacy toward polyJIA. Overall, tolerance was acceptable. Interestingly, compliance was highest with tocilizumab and lowest with adalimumab. This study provides the first indication for the comparison of different biologic agents in polyarticular JIA based on observational study data with all their weaknesses and demonstrates the need for well-controlled head-to-head studies for confirmation.