Arthritis research & therapy
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Nov 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEffects of tofacitinib monotherapy on patient-reported outcomes in a randomized phase 3 study of patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and inadequate responses to DMARDs.
Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. ⋯ Tofacitinib monotherapy in DMARD-IR patients resulted in statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in multiple PROs versus placebo at month 3, with sustained improvements over 6 months.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Oct 2015
A Dose-response relationship between severity of disc degeneration and intervertebral disc height in the lumbosacral spine.
Varied definitions of disc pathology exist in the literature. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) classification systems incorporate several qualitative features including disc appearance, the distinction between the nucleus and the annulus, signal intensity and intervertebral disc height. The lack of a continuous measure has made it difficult to sensitively examine degenerative disc disease. This study sought to examine the relationship between disc degeneration and intervertebral disc height. ⋯ This study has demonstrated a negative dose-response relationship between increasing severity of disc degeneration with a reduction in intervertebral disc height. Although the assessment of disc degeneration incorporates a number of qualitative measures, these data substantiate the utility of intervertebral disc height as a quantitative and continuous outcome measure in epidemiological studies, and potentially clinical practice.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Sep 2015
Review Meta AnalysisSystematic review and meta-analysis of the sero-epidemiological association between Epstein-Barr virus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We sought to determine whether prior infection with the virus occurs more frequently in patients with RA compared to controls. ⋯ Overall, these findings do not demonstrate an association between EBV seroprevalence and RA and therefore do not support the hypothesis that prior infection with EBV predisposes to the development of RA. This contrasts with meta-analyses that indicate EBV infection is associated with multiple sclerosis and SLE.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Sep 2015
Multicenter StudySponyloarthritis features forecasting the presence of HLA-B27 or sacroiliitis on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with suspected axial spondyloarthritis: results from a cross-sectional study in the ESPeranza Cohort.
Chronic back pain (CBP) is frequently the presenting symptom in patients with suspected axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Presence of sacroiliitis on magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) or HLA-B27 adds to diagnostic certainty. However, these costly tests cannot be applied in all patients with CBP. This study aims to investigate which SpA features increase the likelihood of a positive HLA-B27 or positive MRI of the sacroiliac-joints (MRI-SI) in patients with suspected axSpA. ⋯ If patients with suspected axial SpA have either (1) IBP according to Calin/ASAS definition plus alternating buttock pain, or (2) IBP according to Calin definition plus awakening at night, or (3) dactylitis or 4) IBD, the probability of finding a positive MRI-SI increases significantly.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Sep 2015
Clinical TrialReanalysis of the Rituximab in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis trial identifies granulocyte subsets as a novel early marker of successful treatment.
In the present study, we sought to identify markers in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) that distinguish those achieving remission at 6 months following rituximab or cyclophosphamide treatment from those for whom treatment failed in the Rituximab in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis (RAVE) trial. ⋯ We identified distinct subsets of granulocytes found at baseline in patients with AAV that predicted whether they were more likely to achieve remission with cyclophosphamide or rituximab. Profiling patients on the basis of the GI may lead to more successful trials and therapeutic courses in AAV.