The Lancet reports a new study revealing that the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, affects 15% of the global population over the age of 30.

A nested case–control study from the Danish Nationwide Registries finds an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease in the months preceding diagnosis of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV).

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) sine scleroderma is a unique and rare subset of SSc defined by the absence of skin fibrosis. An analysis of the EUSTAR database suggests systemic disease can be a problem, including interstitial lung disease (>40%) and SSc renal crisis (almost 3%). 

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from RheumNow.com this past week. Glucocorticoid Affects Weight, but not Blood Pressure in RA A pooled analysis of 5 RCTs shows that the effects of 2 years of low-dose glucocorticoid (GC) treatment in RA can significantly increase increase body weight, but not blood pressure. https://t.co/GyUVlfMxq6

Dr. Jack Cush weighs in on changes in pharmaceutical "detailing" with suggestions for the future.

The IL-23 inhibitor guselkumab was studied in active psoriatic arthritis patients in the phase 3b COSMOS trial, and shown to be clinically effective while reducing multiple effector cytokines, including those associated with the IL-23/IL-17 pathway.

Lupus researchers from the University of Houston are reporting the first use of the powerful imaging mass cytometry to examine the kidneys of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, as a means of diagnosing lupus nephritis in SLE patients.  LN is a severe inflammation of the kidneys and a major cause of death in lupus patients. Up to 60% of SLE patients will develop renal symptoms with 5–20% of those patients progressing to end stage

Despite being in a state of remission or low disease activity state, in patients with axial spondyloarthritis, up to 42% may still have residual disease.

The safety of abatacept was studied using patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from 7 European registers, revealing safety signals on par with that previously reported with no new safety concerns. 

In 2023, three marketed biosimilars (Actemra, Stelara, Humira) had their patents expire, opening opportunities for multiple new biosimilars; but with competition comes a word salad of new drug names, confusion and nonsensical discounts.

A pooled analysis of 5 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) shows that the effects of 2 years of low-dose glucocorticoid (GC) treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can significantly increase increase body weight, but not blood pressure.

Monoarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (monoJIA) is typically classified under oligoarticular JIA, but a recent study suggests it is a separate entity. The analysis of 347 patients with oligoJIA, included patients with at least two years follow-up and compared oligo JIA ot mono JIA, looking at clinical and laboratory variables and clinical outcomes.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the wonderful wide world of Rheumatology. This week: Swedish study of 325 #AAV pts saw CVA in 35 pts (8%); CVA incidence=11.3/1000 PYs - this was higher than gen population [SIR 1.85). AAV CVA risk factors included age <65 yrs (SIR 3.19) & Hi platelet count (HR 1.14), but no effx on survival https://bit.ly/3OSrOWW