Lana Pine

Farzin Khosrow-Khavar, MSc, PhD, discusses his study “Tofacitinib and risk of cardiovascular outcomes: results from the Safety of TofAcitinib in Routine care patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (STAR-RA) study.”

Chengappa Kavadichanda, MD, discusses his study, “Short term outcomes of COVID-19 in lupus: Propensity score matched analysis from a nationwide multi-centric research network.”

From physical activity levels, to T-cell immune responses and quality of life, COVID-19 has impacted the lives of patients with rheumatic diseases. Take 5 minutes to catch up on the latest COVID-19 news.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending January 21, 2021.

Deucravacitinib selectively binds to a unique pocket in the regulatory domain of TYK2 instead of the highly conserved active site of the catalytic domain,” investigators explained. “This leads to targeted inhibition of immune pathways that are central to psoriasis while limiting off-target effects.”

Women were significantly more likely to utilize complementary and alternative medicine strategies, such as yoga, acupuncture, and vitamins, to help manage chronic arthritis symptoms.

While the goal of rheumatoid arthritis treatment is low disease activity and remission, many patients are apprehensive about changing or escalating RA treatment.

Stephen Balevic, MD, explains hydroxychloroquine PK and exposure-response in pregnancies with lupus and the importance of adhering to treatment both during pregnancy and postpartum.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending January 14, 2021.

W. Benjamin Nowell, PhD, Director, Patient-Centered Research, CreakyJoints, discusses his study, "Patient-Reported Nausea and Fatigue Related to Methotrexate: A Prospective, Self-Controlled Study in the ArthritisPower® Registry.”

While investigators were hopeful that duloxetine, an SNRI, would reduce chronic pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis, results were lackluster and clinically insignificant.

For patients with rheumatoid arthritis, reduced levels of PA may impact disease activity, increase the likelihood of obesity, and may even lead to more frequent hospitalizations.

Analysis of self-reported wellness and health may provide insight into an overall subjective picture of wellbeing and health status. Mood, sleep quality, and sleep quantity were shown to impact these scores.

Plasma samples, collected from 21 patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), indicate 11 proteins that may help identify patients with active and inactive sJIA.

“Pregnancies in women with SLE are often complicated,” investigators stated. “Accordingly, it is crucial to optimize drug therapy to promote disease control and improve outcomes.”

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who were younger in age or were serologically active yet clinically quiescent were more likely to have disease flare during glucocorticoid cessation.

Among patients with psoriatic arthritis, a 36-item Short Form Health Survey was the best predictor of progression from oligoarticular to polyarticular arthritis.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending January 7, 2021.

While patients with rheumatoid arthritis on rituximab therapy have been reported to have insufficient serological responses to the COVID-19 vaccine, T cells, which protect against severe COVID-19, may be elevated after a third dose.

Results showed equivalent effectiveness in disease control between the novel drug, sirolimus, and the classic immunosuppressant, tacrolimus, for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Patient-reported outcomes, in addition to physician assessment, suggest apremilast improves quality of life and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis within 6 months.

While patients with rheumatoid arthritis may benefit from either increasing or decreasing their dosage of tofacitinib, post-hoc analysis indicates that safety and efficacy of the medication is not impacted by these changes.

An increased frequency of serious infections and antimicrobial prescriptions was seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis currently being treated with a TNFi.

Review a hand-selected assortment of articles written for Rheumatology Network by top rheumatologists.

Catch up on Rheumatology Network's top highlights of the ACR 2021 Convergence.

A year in review of Rheumatology Network's top stories.

Check out our expert interviews with top rheumatologists this year.

Vitamin D has been shown to improve both disease activity and fatigue in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Louis Bessette, MD, MSc, explains the impact of early pain improvement on patient-reported outcomes in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending December 17, 2021.