Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism features a review of the effects of paternal use of antirheumatic drugs on pregnancy, specifically addressing the effects of NSAIDs, steroids, DMARDs and biologics on spermatogenesis and the effect on pregnancy outcomes and offspring.

Lancet reports that 12 months of sirolimus treatment is associated with improvement in lupus disease activity presumeably by correction of pro-inflammatory T-cell activity.

Geniculate artery embolization was found to dampen knee pain arising from osteoarthritis, according to interim study results presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology.

The current issue of JAMA has a perspective article on Gout’s bad rap as dietary disease rather than the complex, chronic inflammatory disorder that is ineffectively treated in many. 

Researchers at Northwestern University have used ultrasound-guided tissue biopsy from the joints to analyze the genes of tissue macrophages with the hope that transcriptional profiling of synovial macrophages may be correlated with clinical parameters or drug responsiveness in rheumatoi

Research from the Danish biologics registry shows that the use of a biologic in patients with a history of a primary cancer does not increase the risk of a second malignant neoplasm (SMN) or mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the news, journals and major meetings. Bigtime rheumatologic lessons with tales from intestinal crypts, the friendly skies & the hips of hockey players. Also the microbiome and lupus, benefits of ENT findings with GPA and rare risk of opportunistic infections with biologics.

The British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register for Rheumatoid Arthritis has studied nearly 20,000 patients and observed that there is no substantially different risk of opportunistic infections between different biologics. 

The CARES study was presented Monday at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Orlando and finds that while the rates of all major cardiovascular (CV) events were comparable between febuxostat or allopurinol, there were more CV deaths with febuxostat.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights, news and recent research published this past week on RheumNow.com. This week's report includes news on new regulatory changes, new indication for tofacitinib, the rise and deficits of opioids and the benefits of fish and bariatric surgery.

Yesterday a FDA advisory panel voted 15-0 in favor of approving Xeljanz (tofacitinib) 10 mg bid for patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.

Exposure to biologic therapies among women with autoimmune diseases was not associated with increased risks of preterm delivery or having small for gestational age babies, a population-based Canadian study found.

This edition of RheumNow's Drug Safey Bulletin includes drug safety news, FDA updates, FDA safety labeling changes and reported drug shortages. 

The CDC released new information yesterday showing that emergency department (ED) visits for opioid overdoses rose 30% in the US from July 2016 through September 2017; in addition, those with an overdose are more likely to a repeat overdose.

Subcutaneous abatacept (Orencia) showed efficacy among children with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in an open-label phase III trial.

The Journal of Clinical Investigation reports the results of a trial wherein etanercept (ETN) was shown to be effective in treating cytotoxic T lymphocyte–mediated (CTL-mediated) severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs), including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (T

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

Pregnant women (n=254) with rheumatoid arthritis who enrolled in the MotherToBaby Autoimmune Diseases in Pregnancy Study  and who were taking oral glucocorticoids were studied. 

Capelli and colleagues have studied patients treated with ICIs and found two variants of inflammatory arthritis (IA) - a reactive arthritis like large joint arthritis with combination ICI therapy or a small joint IA with ICI monotherapy.

This retrospective review is drawn from the authors collection of the most impactful publications, research and news that occurred in 2017.  In no particular order, here are my top rheumatology advances, news and research reports for calendar year 2017.