Rheumatoid Arthritis

When considering the evidence, it appears that rather than it being a discrete clinical entity with a unique cause, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is likely a syndrome that represents a common endpoint for a number of different causative agents.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis often experience flares when symptoms and functionality worsen. Predicting flares and preventing them is a key area of research in rheumatoid arthrits (RA). In this quiz, test how familiar you are with recent findings in this area.

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, methotrexate adherence is suboptimal and associated with certain demographics, medication experience, and beliefs about medicines, say researchers writing in ACR Open Rheumatology this month.

In this Q&A, Dr. Roy Fleischmann, the primary investigator for the phase three clinical trial of upadacitinib (Rinvoq, AbbVie), compares the new rheumatoid arthritis treatment to other treatments. 

Triple therapy and methotrexate‐based biologic disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) combinations were superior to methotrexate alone for both American College of Rheumatology (ACR50) response and remission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, say researchers writing in Arthritis Research & Therapy last month.

In this installment of our monthly rheumatoid arthritis quiz, we focus comorbidities associated with rheumatoid arthritis, adverse drug reactions and the best place to get care in the country. Learn more in this quiz.

Women with rheumatoid arthritis are concerned with pregnancy and parenting issues and require more information from their doctors, say researchers writing in ACR Open Rheumatology this month.

AbbVie announced on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration approved the oral once-daily JAK inhibitor Rinvoq (upadacitinib) for adults with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to methotrexate.

The JAK inhibitor from AbbVie has shown significant benefit for RA patients over 2 weeks of treatment.

The JAK inhibitor could receive consideration as a rheumatoid arthritis therapy in both Europe and the US in the following year.

In today's news roundup from Rheumatology Network, we highlight recent findings from ACR Open Rheumatology that examine infection risk in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Plus, we conduct a Q&A from a presentation made at the Rheumatology Nurses Society on alternative treatments for rheumatology conditions. 

Both TNF inhibitors and non-TNFi biologic DMARDs increase the risk of serious infection in rheumatoid arthritis patients compared to conventional synthetic DMARDs. Despite the risk, the treatments are effective in reducing disease activity, researchers report.

The JAK1 inhibitor filgotinib has been shown to be effective in rheumatoid arthritis patients who failed previous treatment with one or more biologic DMARD.

Modern pharmacologic therapies for rheumatoid arthritisare effective in controlling inflammation and preventing bone erosions however, a multitude of factors are likely to blame for ongoing bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis.

Periodontal disease and periodontal inflammation appear to be present in individuals who are at risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis long before they begin to show signs of disease, shows new research published in JAMA Network Open.

Identifying and treating symptoms that can appear years before the clinical onset of rheumatoid arthritis could play a role in helping patients offset the condition. And now, new research that identifies a bacteria as a potential cause of these symptoms has one rheumatologist positing whether improved oral care, or maybe a vaccine, might be effective in preventing rheumatoid arthritis.

The JAK1-selective inhibitor upadacitinib successfully improved the signs, symptoms and function of rheumatoid arthritis patients in a randomized clinical trial published this month in Arthritis and Rheumatology.

Investigators found positive results when examining the safety and efficacy of filgotinib in the FINCH 2 phase 3 clinical trial.

The impact of chronic inflammatory disease on sexual function may seem obvious but it is poorly understood. Pain, morning stiffness, joint swelling and fatigue can lead to a decreased sexual interest and can inhibit actual intercourse. In this article, Dr. Kim Gorgens reviews the current literature on sexual function for patients with chronic conditions, such as arthritis, and makes recommendations for incorporating sexual function complications as part of the discussion in a clinic exam. 

In this month's health quiz, we revisit some of our most popular articles published in recent weeks. This includes news reports on the safety and efficacy of baricitinib, upadacitinib effectiveness as monotherapy, inherited rheumatoid arthritis and our most popular story from this month:  The sexual health of patients with musculoskeletal conditions.

In an article published in a recent edition of Arthritis Research & Therapy, Jurgen Wollenhaupt and colleagues from multiple international centers have discovered that tofacitinib 5mg and 10mg twice a day remained effective and safe even after 8 and 9.5 years respectively.

Anne-Mari Mustonen and colleagues in Finland have determined the respective fatty acid (FA) signatures found in the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) and synovial fluid (SF) of patients with osteoarthritis (OA), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While the authors’ findings are inconclusive, they give insight into the complex alterations in fatty acid profiles found in knee arthropathies. They present their findings in a recent Arthritis Research & Therapy.

MRI-guided treat-to-target treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis is no better than conventional treat-to-target strategies, researchers reported in JAMA in February. However, in a new commentary posted this month in JAMA, researchers raise some interesting points experts may want to reconsider.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients who failed first-line methotrexate achieved better outcomes with upadacitinib monotherapy, shows a new clinical trials report.