All News
Anti-Drug Antibodies with Biologics (7.14.2023)
Dr. Jack Cush Reviews the news and journal reports on CVA, TKA, PJP, ADA, and more!
Read Article
Links:
Filgotinib Effects on Semen and Sex Hormones
The oral Janus kinase 1 inhibitor filgotinib is available worldwide, but not in the USA, where the FDA held up its approval for use in RA due to unfinished studies of filgotinib's effects on sperm cells. The results of 2 phase two studies (MANTA and MANTA-RAy) confirm that filgotinib has no measurable impact on semen parameters or sex hormones in men with active IBD or inflammatory rheumatic diseases.
Read Article
Antidrug Antibodies Impair Response to Biologic Drugs
Monitoring for antidrug antibodies with biologic has not been routine in rheumatology but a new study suggests that antidrug antibodies correlate with nonresponse to bDMARDs in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
Read Article
Links:
Biologics Keep Early RA in Check for at Least One Year
Treatment with at least some biologic drugs significantly reduced 1-year progression of early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) relative to classical small-molecule agents, researchers reported.
Read Article
Baricitinib Effective in JIA Subsets
A phase 3 trial assessed a selective Janus kinase 1/2-inhibitor, baricitinib, in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), demonstrating it's efficacy and safety compared to placebo.
Read Article
GCA and the Risk of Cerebrovascular Ischemic Events
Cerebrovascular ischemic events (CIE) can be one of the most severe complications of giant cell arteritis (GCA), but is seen in 4-5% of GCA patients according to a recent French University Hospital.
Read Article
Upadacitinib Outcomes in High Risk RA Patients
A safety analysis of six phase III SELECT trials showed that higher-risk rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients had an increased risk of MACE, malignancy (excluding NMSC) and venous thromboembolic events (VTE) regardless of being treated with either upadacitinib (UPA) or adalimumab (ADA).
Read Article
Links:
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
ICYMI: LAVLI - A New Autoinflammatory Disorder
NIH researchers have have described a novel autoinflammatory disorder called "Lyn kinase-associated vasculopathy and liver fibrosis" (LAVLI), based on a mutation in the LYN gene (that encodes the Lyn kinase protein). They discovered that increased Lyn kinase activity promotes systemic inflammation, by altering microvascular permeability and neutrophil recruitment, while at the same time promoting hepatic fibrosis.
Read Article
ICYMI: Drug Safety Differences with New Novel Therapies in RA
Safety outcomes for targeted synthetic or biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/ts DMARDs) used to treat RA were studied using data from the Anti-Rheumatic Therapies in Sweden (ARTIS) registry, showing that these newer agents are largely similar, but still have particular differences for specific infection or other adverse event risks.
Read Article
Links:
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
ICYMI: GRAPPA Recommendations for Treating Enthesitis in Psoriatic Arthritis
GRAPPA has provided new, evidence based updates to the management of enthesitis in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), affecting at least 30% of PsA patients and is associated with more severe disease, x-ray damage, and poorer outcomes.
Read Article
ICYMI: Hydroxychloroquine Dose and Risk for Incident Retinopathy
A cohort study in Annals of Internal Medicine shows that higher hydroxychloroquine doses was associated with progressively greater risk for incident retinopathy. The study aimed to assess the long-term risk for incident hydroxychloroquine retinopathy and examine the degree to which average hydroxychloroquine dose within the first 5 years of treatment predicts this risk.
Read Article
ICYMI: Carpal Tunnel - Steroid injection vs. Night Splinting
A prospective, pragmatic, open-label, randomized trial conducted by the UK National Health Service, studied interventions in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and found no advantage to either CTS corticosteroid injection (CSI) or night splinting (NS) as the initial treatment of CTS.
Read Article
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
ICYMI: New Laboratory Insights for the ANA+ Consult
A new study suggests that use of ELISA assays for CXCL-10 and IFN-α can predict which ANA+ individuals may progress to developing a systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease (SARD).
Read Article
Links:
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)