The oral cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) agonist lenabasum showed promising results for systemic sclerosis (SSc) in a phase II study.

The Annals of Rheumatic Disease has published the preliminary recommendations of the German Society of Rheumatology for the management of Inflammatory rheumatic diseases patients during the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic.

These preliminary recommendations are based on an expert consensus from 17 experienced German rheumatologists.

In the last few days there have been encouraging "preliminary" reports that IL-6 inhibition by either tocilizumab or sarilumab may be efficacious in patients with severe coronavirus infections.

JAMA Open Network reports an interim analysis of the Brazilian CloroCovid-19 trial showing thta higher doses of chloroquine (CQ) in the treatment of severe COVID-19 was associated with QTc interval prolongation and increased mortality.

Dr Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports, twitter feed and COVID developments from the past week on RheumNow.com

A pre-proof letter to the editor in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology presents a series of patients with immunoglobulin deficiency disorders and how they differentially responded when infected with the coronavirus.

They identified seven Primary Antibody Deficiencies patients with COVID-19 infection; five affected with Common Variable Immune Deficiencies and two affected with Agammaglobulinemia, one with X-linked Agammaglobulinemia and one with Autosomal Recessive Agammaglobulinemia.

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) expert panel has developed consensus treatment guidelines for the management of coronavirus (COVID-19). To date no drug has been proven to be safe and effective for treating COVID-19. Moreover, they found no evidence to recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis or treatment of COVID-19 outside of a current clinical trial.

Early reports on the COVID-19 pandemic allude to a cytokine storm or hyper-inflammation, especially in patients who succumbed to the illness.

 Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with abatacept (Orencia) had a lower risk of developing diabetes mellitus compared with those receiving certain tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, a large cohort study suggested.

On April 11th, the ACR Board of Directors approved a COVID-19 guidance document written by an ACR task force charged with updating and clarifying recommendations for rheumatologists and rheumatic disease patient management during the current COVID-19 crisis.

The 9/11/01 terrorist attach on the World Trade Center (WTC)  resulted in at least 2,977 fatalities, over 25,000 injuries, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage.  Arthritis & Rheumatology reports that dust cloud exposure among responders and

Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com

The New England Journal of Medicine has featured a report of three COVID infected patients, who developed peripheral and central infarcts with a antiphospholipid antibodies. 

On Tuesday, April 7th, RheumNow hosted its first Tuesday Nite Rheumatology webinar - kicking off a two-month series of Rheumatology Grand Rounds lectures.  The first session featured Jack Cush, MD (UT Southwestern) who lectured on "The Safety of Biologics and Newer Agents".

On April 3rd, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, published a rapid guideline for managing children and adults with rheumatological autoimmune, inflammatory and metabolic bone disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, while protecting staff from infection.