All News
50 Year Perspective on Lupus
An observational cohort study was started in Toronto by Dr. Murray Urowitz in 1970. The program was set up as a specialized clinic to provide care for patients with lupus, to study clinical laboratory correlations in the disease, and to better understand long-term outcomes of the disease. What have we learned from more than 50 years of follow-up of patients with lupus? Some of the important observations include the following.
Read Article
Contemporary lupus nephritis treatment
Outcomes in lupus nephritis are akin to the glass half full. Serial monotherapy is out, as the percentage who achieved a complete renal response was very low and some went to end stage kidney disease (ESKD). Solutions?
Read Article
2025 ACR Guideline for the Treatment of SLE
The ACR has released its 2025 Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) treatment guidelines and consensus-based good practice statements, applicable to children and adults with SLE.
Read Article
IMPACT Study - Certolizumab Efficacy in APS Pregnancies
A pilot trial assessed the safety and value of tumour necrosis factor α inhibitor treatment with certolizumab in patients with high-risk pregnancies with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).
Diagnosing Neuropsychiatric SLE (5.23.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from RheumNow.com - including views on the vagus nerve, NPSLE and CAR-T mania.
Read Article
Steroids in Lupus Nephritis: No Free Lunch
https://t.co/yPQuZcnRLH https://t.co/V8GZoslSqV
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
JAK inhibitors reduce inflammation while potentially exacerbating the propagation viral infections. They suppress transcription of IFN-stimulated genes in non-infected cells (usually triggered by type I IFNs produced by infected cells) Thus facilitating viral propagation https://t.co/BDzz8pHKxL
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
A retrospective VEXAS cohort study of 59 pts receiving 71 targeted Rx - 98%male, mean 71 yrs & 46% had myelodysplastic syndr. Treatments included tocilizumab(19), anakinra (13), azacitidine(13), baricitinib (11), & pred only (10). Best responses w/ azacitidine & tocilizumab https://t.co/fBdfrrZt1M
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
JAMA CME review of Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (iTTP) - thrombotic microangiopathy w/ hemolytic anemia (MAHA) & thrombocytopenia. iTTP incidence is 2-6 per million. Caused by Abs to ADAMTS13), w/ low ADAMTS13 activity vWF multimers bind platelets https://t.co/kwKXUciBd1
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Hydroxychloroquine for Everyone
Nearly 25 years ago, while lecturing on best therapies for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), I loudly stated that hydroxychloroquine was “useless” and, deservedly, I was “boo-ed” off stage. My point then was that rheumatologists needed to be aggressive, https://t.co/qKnObzr5ib
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Does ADDING an #immunesuppressive
To
#belimumab in #SLE give more benefit?
❎
NO
#RWE from Spain suggests no added improvement adding IS to Belimumab
Should you switch Rx then? 🤷♀️
@RheumNow #LUPUS2025 poster110
#ClinicalPearl https://t.co/C3ydArMx7x
Links:
Janet Pope Janetbirdope ( View Tweet)
Treat to target 🎯 #SLE #recommendations
Considerations are nuanced and Impt
Lowest clinical disease activity is goal
Try for remission
🎯 Get patients off #glucocorticoids
If not ⬇️low dose #prednisone
@RheumNow #LUPUS2025 https://t.co/HlBeh2FLxP
Links:
Janet Pope Janetbirdope ( View Tweet)
Lupus Unlocked: Pregnancy & SLE
📅 May 27, 2025
6:00 PM CT | 7:00 PM ET | 4PM PT
Join us for our final Lupus Unlocked webinar this month on pregnancy and SLE. In this webinar, panelists will discuss issues such as congenital heart block, lupus nephritis treatment, teratogenic https://t.co/gouTN7uzCo
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
IL2 low dose in #SLE
seems to + alter immune regulation
Multiple targets to explore in #lupus
Unravelling pathophysiology in SLE
CD40L
TLR7,8
#rapamycin type drugs
CAR-T w novel CARS
Etc
#LUPUS2025
@RheumNow https://t.co/jeycgg4ZhT
Links:
Janet Pope Janetbirdope ( View Tweet)
We are not (yet) in #SLE
Getting
👇
Correct drug
In right pt
At right time
At correct individual dose
Even more problematic is in a renal bx - 2 glomeruli beside each other have v different cytokine expressions
Unravelling #LUPUS2025
@RheumNow https://t.co/yGBvhFkPKY
Links:
Janet Pope Janetbirdope ( View Tweet)
Here’s who flares in #SLE
least to most
Persistently neg antiDNA
Persistently + antiDNA
conversion of neg to + antiDNA
So are we over ordering antibodies in 1st 2 groups 🤷♀️
Unravelling #LUPUS2025
@RheumNow https://t.co/1Feau7f199
Janet Pope Janetbirdope ( View Tweet)
controversy re
👇
Monitoring for +Ro pregnant re
#congenital #heart #block
87% Y
echo is possibly too late
No ideas if flourinated #steroids work
But many thing we should do something
Guidelines differ on recommendations
Would fetal home HR be better
#LUPUS2025 @RheumNow https://t.co/MY0oPjLnGs
Janet Pope Janetbirdope ( View Tweet)
T2T in #SLE
Lots of #rheumatologists do NOT do a validated measure so #DORIS remission may be over estimated
But great algorithm for #lupus #Rx
@RheumNow
#LUPUS2025 https://t.co/mGoopRtK2F
Janet Pope Janetbirdope ( View Tweet)
Monitoring for #HCQ #retinal #toxicity
2 tests beyond visual fields are better than 1
OCT
Etc
But suggestion if low risk to do only every 5 yrs
I don’t agree as risk ⬆️ w disease duration
We do
Annual fields
and either
OCT or retinal photography
#LUPUS2025
@RheumNow https://t.co/TdPJ47jYEL
Links:
Janet Pope Janetbirdope ( View Tweet)
No Cancer Recurrence with Biologic DMARDs in RA
A prospective Danish rheumatoid arthritis (RA) registry study look at the risk of recurrence when a biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) was ued in patients with a a prior solid cancer (in remission) and https://t.co/T7G96cAlE6
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
