The big news this week: the approval of deucravacitinib (a new class of drug?) for psoriasis; the 2022 ACR guidance on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis; a national poll of older adults over the age of 50 who claimed self-reported or doctor-diagnosed arthritis; and much more. Let's review these and other news, journal reports and announcements from this past week.

Findings of a new study suggest a causal effect between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and psoriasis (PSO) as well as psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but not vice versa.

A systematic review suggests that low-dose methotrexate (MTX) use is associated with an increased melanoma risk, but the absolute risk increase could be considered negligible.

The ACR has updated this guideline and includes recommendations on abaloparatide (PTHrP) and romosozumab, which are newly available since the ACR’s 2017 GIOP guideline.

Dr. Beth Wallace and colleagues at the University of Michigan surveyed a national sample of older adults (50–80 yrs) and found that 70% currently report experiencing joint pain and 60% reported being told by a health care professional that they have arthritis. 

Two large RA registries have shown that pregnancy outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is more related to RA disease activity rather than treatments use to control RA. 

Incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was significantly higher among gout patients than in the general Swedish population, researchers found, even when data were adjusted for common comorbidities.

Forbes reports that a recent Merritt Hawkins survey shows that patients are waiting an average of 26 days for a scheduled appointment with a doctor. This is based on a 15 U.S. city survey of more than 1,000 physician offices - including family medicine, dermatology, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedic surgery and cardiology practices. The average wait time is up 8% from 24.1 days in 2017 (It was 21 days in 2004).

Deucravacitinib (Sotyktu), a first-in-class, oral, selective, allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor, is the only approved TYK2 inhibitor worldwide and the first innovation in oral treatment for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in nearly 10 years.

A retrospective study of dermatomyositis (DM) patients with COVID-19, shows that DM patients without comorbidities fair well (with regard to mortality and hospitalisation).

Can we predict the bad outcomes? Like when ITP evolves into SLE; or when psoriasis will develop arthritis; or if Sjogren's will develop lymphoma? Let's dive in and review these journal reports and this past week's news from RheumNow.com.

A phase 2 trial using litifilimab, a humanized monoclonal antibody binding to blood dendritic cell antigen 2 (BDCA2), demonstrated clinical efficacy in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). By targeting BDCA2 on plasmacytoid dendritic cells, researchers were able to suppresses type I interferon, thought to be instrumental in the pathogenesis of SLE.