Sandoz Etanercept Biosimilar Voted for Approval by FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee

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The Food and Drug Administration’s Arthritis Advisory Committee (AAC) yesterday recommended that the Sandoz etanercept (Enbrel) biosimilar (GP-2015) be approved for use in the United States.

Gut Microbiome Shapes Risk and Response in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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In Genome Medicine, Mayo Clinic researchers investigated a cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, their relatives and a healthy control group analyzing the gut microbiome vial16S ribosomal DNA analysis of fecal samples.

FDA Says Cryotherapy Lacks Evidence, Poses Risks

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Cryotherapy is a non-FDA approved treatment that has been promoted to treat post-athletic injury, osteoarthritis,rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, alzheimers, migraines, asthma, multiple sclerosis, etc. Cryotherapy may be as simple as ice packs on a localized portion of the body, such as the lower back, or may involve whole body cryotherapy.

Vagal Stimulation Improves Cytokine Production and Rheumatoid Disease Activity

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PNAS has published a study wherein an inducible “inflammatory reflex” delivered by vagus nerve stimulation was shown to inhibit the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), an inflammatory molecule that is a major therapeutic target in an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Sclerostin Inhibition May Worsen Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Sclerostin, an inhibitor of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, negatively regulates osteoblast differentiation and has anti-anabolic effects on bone formation. Thus, inhibition of sclerostin is currently being studied as therapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Patient Reluctance to Take Bisphosphonates

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The NY Times reports that millions of Americans with osteoporosis are driven to stop or not take bisphosphonate therapies over the fear of exceedingly rare side effects - osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) and atypical femoral fractures (AFF).

Early DMARD Therapy Averts Cardiovascular Risk in RA

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A Finnish early RA register studied 14,878 incident RA patients from 2000-2008 and identified 1157 deaths. Patients receiving DMARDs and MTX had lower mortality rates. The standardized mortality ratio for the entire cohort was reduced (0.57, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.62).

10 Ways Rheumatoid Arthritis Could’ve Killed Glenn Frey

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I was truly stunned when it was announced that Glenn Frey, from the Eagles, had died as a result of complications from his rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.

Tocilizumab in Pregnancy

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Tocilizumab is currently listed as a Category "C" pregnancy risk based on limited pre-clinical (animal) data that was negative.

Cancer Risk Lower with TNF inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Since the introduction of TNF inhibitors nearly 20 years ago, concerns over a potential associated cancer risk have abounded. The recent ACR RA treatment guidelines have addressed this recently, stating that patients with any solid tumor cancer or risk thereof should be treated as if they ha

Biologics and Fatigue in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Researchers from Bristol, UK have published a Cochrane review studying the effects of biologic therapies on fatigue.

Family History and Rheumatoid Arthritis

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RheumNow Week in Review – 24 June 2016

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Dr. Cush reviews highlights published this week at RheumNow.com.

Hypogonadism Ups the Risk of Autoimmunity

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In a variety of models, testosterone has been shown to be immunosuppressive and deficiency of testosterone has been linked with autoimmune disease and increases in C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-6 (IL-6).

Predictors of Progression in Early Inflammatory Polyarthritis

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A substantial, but unclear, percentage of patients presenting with new onset inflammatory polyarthritis (IP) will spontaneously remit, while others may persist and develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

New EULAR Guidelines on Behçet's

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At the EULAR 2016 meeting, new EULAR recommendations for the management of Behçet's disease (BD) were presented.

EULAR 2016 Drug Safety Report

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The EULAR Annual European Congress of Rheumatology meeting was held in London from June 8-11, 2016 and was well attended by thousands. This year’s meeting had over 2,000 poster displays, and the EULAR 2016 Congress presented new recommendations on the management of rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and fibromyalgia.

Steroid Use in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Associated with Fractures

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The impact of systemic glucocorticoid exposure on fracture risk among new-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was studied using administrative claims data detailing the treatments and outcomes of 42,127 newly diagnosed RA patients (between 2005-2012).

European Registries Show No Melanoma Risk with Biologics

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The combined analysis of 130,315 rheumatoid arthritis patients from 11 European registries did not reveal an association between invasive (malignant) melanoma and the use of biologic therapies.

Long-Acting Opioids Associated with Higher Mortality Risk

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Prescription of long-acting opioids for chronic noncancer pain was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, including deaths from causes other than overdose, compared with anticonvulsants or cyclic antidepressants, according to a study appearing in the June 14 issue of JAMA.