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Two vs. Four Weeks of Antibiotic Therapy in Septic Arthritis
A prospective trial has shown that 2 weeks of antibiotic therapy is as effective as 4 weeks of antibiotic therapy, with similar outcomes but shorter hospital stays.
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Bimekizumab Add-on Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Bimekizumab is a dual inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F that has been shown to be effective in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. A proof-of-concept study shows that giving bimekizumab to rheumatoid arthritis patients not adequately controlled by certolizumab pegol resulted in a rapid decrease in disease activity achieved after 12 weeks of treatment. These findings are novel as anti-IL-17 monoclonal antibody therapy has previously been shown to be ineffective in RA.
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74 Percent of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Dissatisfied with Treatment
CreakyJoints has completed a 258 patient survey showing that nearly three-fourths of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have expressed dissatisfaction with their treatments, including conventional (csDMARDs) and biologic Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (bDMARDs).
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Steroid Sparing Effects of Methotrexate and Mycophenolate in Uveitis
Patients with noninfectious uveitis (intermediate, posterior uveitis, or panuveitis) often require high dose corticosteroids and therefore may need steroid-sparing DMARD therapy. The FAST study investigated the corticosteroid-sparing effect of methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil in adults with noninfectious uveitis.
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Need for Pre-operative Hyperglycemia Testing Prior to Total Joint Replacement
JAMA reports on a large Medicare cohort study showing that amongst patients undergoing total joint replacement (TJR), preoperative HbA1c testing was performed in 26% to 43% of patients with diabetes and in only 5% of those without diabetes. Importantly research has shown that an elevated HbA1c level is associated with postoperative complications.
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Anti-IL-23 Beats IL-17 in Plaque Psoriasis
Lancet reports a head-to-head trial of antibodies against interleukin (IL)-23 and IL-17A in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis favored guselkumab with superior PASI 90 responses at week 48 (compared to secukinumab).
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Modifiable Risk Factors for Hyperuricemia
Choi and colleagues have shown that four modifiable risk factors (BMI, the DASH diet, alcohol use, and diuretic use) could individually account for a notable proportion of observed hyperuricemia.
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Respiratory Risks Not Increased in RA Patients with COPD
An insurance claims based study of RA patients with COPD shows that biologics do not have an increased rate of respiratory events compared to those on conventional DMARDs.
A real world cohort of RA patients with COPD was drawn from US-based MarketScan databases. Patients on biologic DMARDs and/or targeted synthetic DMARDs (tsDMARDs) were propensity matched to those on conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs).
Tocilizumab Shows No Increase in Cardiovascular Risk
The ENTRACTE trial examined the risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in RA patients and found no increased risk of MACE in patients treated with tocilizumab (TCZ) versus etanercept (ETN).
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Number of Prior DMARDs Portends Poorer Outcomes
Detailed analysis of two clinical trials in RA has shown that clinical responses decrease as the disease duration and number of prior DMARDs increase.
The associations between disease duration and number of prior DMARDs and response to therapy were assessed using data from two randomised controlled trials in patients with established RA (mean duration, 11 years) receiving adalimumab+methotrexate.
High-Dose Vitamin D: No Help for Bone Health
Vitamin D might not be much help for strengthening bones among healthy adults without osteoporosis, Canadian researchers reported, even at doses far higher than recommended daily allowances.
In a clinical trial assessing three levels of daily vitamin D supplementation -- 400 IU, 4,000 IU, and 10,000 IU -- radial volumetric bone mineral density was significantly lower among those (ages 55-70) taking higher doses for 3 years, according to Steven Boyd, PhD, of the University of Calgary in Canada, and colleagues.
Taltz FDA Approved for Ankylosing Spondylitis (Radiographic Axial SpA)
The FDA has approved the IL-17A inhibitor Taltz (ixekizumab) for the treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS: also known as radiographic axial spondyloarthritis).
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RheumNow Podcast – Upadacitinib FDA Approved for RA (8.23.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reports on the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com, including: how your genetics may shape your microbiome; GERD as a risk factor for TMJ?; how can MDA-5+ dermatomyositis be any worse; new drug happenings; StillsNow.com; and more.
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A Multidimensional Definition of Remission
A study from Leeds suggests 'multi-dimensional remission' (MDR) can be seen in one-third of RA patients achieving DAS28-remission; such patients have better patient-reported outcome measures, making it an optimal goal, especially from a patient's perspective.
Read ArticleOsteoporosis Tx: Good for Bones, but Not for Cutting Death Risk
Osteoporosis treatments were not linked with reduced overall mortality, according to a meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trial data.
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Upadacitinib (RINVOQ) FDA Approved for Rheumatoid Arthritis
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday, August 16, approved AbbVie JAK1 inhibitor, Rinvoq (upadacitinib) for adults with rheumatoid arthritis with moderately to severely active disease either not responding to, or intolerant of, methotrexate (MTX).
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RheumNow Podcast – Antibiotics Increase RA Risk (8.16.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reports the news and important journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Trends in Inflammatory Arthritis Care in Germany
The German National Database (NDB) has reviewed their experience in the care and quality of life of inflammatory rheumatic disease patients snce 1993, showing improved use of metrics, improved outcomes and a changing profile of biologic and anti-rheumatic drug use.
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Bisphosphonate Use Associated with Reduced Mortality
The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (JBMR) has published a report showing that a reduction in the rate of bone loss by nitrogen bisphosphonates was associated with a 40% lower mortality risk.
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Enbrel Patent Battle Won by Amgen
The ugly, legal, financial underbelly of US biosimilar drug development showed up in court last Friday, when a U.S. judge upheld two of Amgen's patents for Enbrel, thwarting a legal challenge by Novartis/Sandoz over its etanercept-szzs biosimilar, Erelzi.
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