Rheumatology international
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Abatacept might increase bone mineral density at femoral neck for patients with rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice: AIRTIGHT study.
We investigated the influence of abatacept (ABT) on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone metabolic markers (BMMs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to other biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs). This prospective, comparative, non-randomized study (the AIRTIGHT study; UMIN000005570) investigated the effects of ABT and other bDMARDs on bone metabolism. A total of 165 RA patients were divided into ABT (n = 50) and non-ABT (n = 115). ⋯ ABT treatment was significantly associated with increased BMD at the femoral neck (odds ratio (OR) 8.84; 95% CI 1.08-72.4; p = 0.04), and baseline lumbar osteoarthritis was significantly associated with BMD at the lumbar spine (OR 2.97; 95% CI 1.23-7.13; p = 0.02). The efficacy of ABT for increasing BMD at the femoral neck was superior to that of other bDMARDs. ABT may offer good efficacy for improving BMD at the femoral neck in patients with RA.
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We aimed to assess the clinical significance of Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) in the diagnosis and severity of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in a French cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). ⋯ Our study confirms that KL-6 is an accurate biomarker for the diagnosis of SSc-ILD in a French cohort of patients. High KL-6 levels should prompt physicians to assess ILD with pulmonary imaging and pulmonary functions tests. Prospective clinical studies are still required to determine whether levels of KL-6 might predict progression of ILD as well as its usefulness in the timing of therapeutic intervention.