The ARTIC-REWIND study examined rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in remission on conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) to see if they could "step-down" their csDMARDs theray; but  the study showed that 25% those who went on half-dose experienced disease fl

The predictive value of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) while on biologics is debateable; gastroenterology routinely relies on TDM, while rheumatologists do not.

JAMA has posted an insights article reviewing autoimmune thyroid disease in women. Thyroid autoimmunity has a higher prevalence in women and with increasing age.

Similar to many autoimmune disorders, thyroid disease is more common in women than in men.

An open source, free read from the European Journal of Internal Medicine discusses how uric acid has evolved from the toxic cause of gout and nephrolithiasis and evolved, by way of science, into a pleiotropic recidivist in the evolution of obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, renal disease, hypertension, fatty liver, and cardiovascular disease.

A metanalysis showed that while adverse events (AEs) are common when methotrexate is used in rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory arthritis patients, serious AEs ranged from 2.1 to 9.5% and drug discontinuations ranged from 6.7% to 15.5%, mostly due to gastrointestinal events. 

Each one-unit increase on a disease activity score during the first year after enrollment into a systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cohort was associated with a significant increased risk for death and organ damage during subsequent follow-up, researchers reported.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews and discusses more than a dozen news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and Journal reports and takes "Back Talk" questions from viewers.

Does uric acid contribute to the risk of hypertension (HTN)?  A recent cohort trial shows that allopurinol in young adults does not sufficiently lower blood pressure (BP).

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, FDA Denials and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.

A multicentre, retrospective study examined MSA profiles (by immunoprecipitation) from 96 juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (JIIM) at nine pediatric rheumatology centres in Japan. MSA were found in 85 of 96 cases with over 90% of patients having one of the following three MSA

Analysis of the NHANES population survey data shows weight gain during adulthood increases the risk of gout and that maintaining normal weight could reduce the overall gout risk by nearly 33%.

The addition of an immunomodulating agent to pegloticase (Krystexxa) among patients with uncontrolled gout significantly improved response rates, a systematic literature review found.

The pendulum and jury are wavering with regard to the benefits of interleukin-6 receptor antagonists in COVID-19; the current NEJM reports the results of a study favoring such biologic therapy in in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews nearly a dozen news and journal reports from the past 2 weeks on RheumNow.com, including the ACR's new COVID-19 vaccine guidance for patients with rheumatic disease.

A recent metanalysis of studies suggest you may be able to use certain clinical factors to stratify cancer risk in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs).

Botson et al has reported that the combination of methotrexate (MTX) and IV pegloticase is safe and effective in patients with uncontrolled gout.

This exploratory, open-label clinical trial screened 17 patients and treated 14 patients (all men, 49.3 ± 8.7 years) with IV pegloticase with MTX (15 mg/week) and folic acid (1 mg/day) 4 weeks prior to and throughout pegloticase treatment.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week's journal articles and news features on RheumNow.com. Colchicine, vaccine rollout, risk of RA in endometriosis patients, tREACH trial, lupus nephritis news, rheumatology burnout and more.

Kidney International reports on a series of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, who despite inactive urinary sediment and low level proteinuria, had a high rate of glomerulonephritis (GN) proven by renal biopsy; moreover, the LN was not predicted by laboratory abnormalities.

Acute gout has its well defined protocols, and most state that urate lowering therapy (ULT) should be continued; but does ULT affect outcomes in an acute gout attack?