Annals of the rheumatic diseases
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Etanercept and sulfasalazine, alone and combined, in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis despite receiving sulfasalazine: a double-blind comparison.
To compare the efficacy and safety of etanercept and sulfasalazine, alone and in combination, in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis despite sulfasalazine treatment. ⋯ For all efficacy variables assessed, etanercept alone or in combination with sulfasalazine resulted in substantial and similar improvement in disease activity from baseline to week 24 compared with sulfasalazine alone in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis despite their sulfasalazine treatment. All three treatments were generally well tolerated.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Bosentan treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension related to connective tissue disease: a subgroup analysis of the pivotal clinical trials and their open-label extensions.
Endothelin-1 is considered to be a central pathogenic factor in connective tissue diseases (CTDs) such as systemic sclerosis (SSc), leading to vasoconstriction, fibrosis, hypertrophy and inflammation. A frequent complication of CTD is pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), which has a major effect on functioning and quality of life, and is associated with a particularly poor prognosis. ⋯ Short-term bosentan treatment in a subgroup of patients with PAH secondary to CTD seems to have a favourable effect compared with placebo. The long-term follow-up of these patients suggests that first-line bosentan, with the subsequent addition of other PAH treatments if required, is safe for long-term treatment and may have a positive effect on outcome.
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Intestinal inflammation is a common feature of spondyloarthropathy (SpA) and Crohn's disease. Inflammation is manifested clinically in Crohn's disease and subclinically in SpA. However, a fraction of patients with SpA develops overt Crohn's disease. ⋯ The transcriptome in the intestine of patients with SpA differs from that of controls. Moreover, these gene changes are comparable to those seen in patients with Crohn's disease, confirming initial clinical observations. On the basis of these findings, new (genetic) markers for detection of early Crohn's disease in patients with SpA can be considered.