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IL-6

Biologics Prevent AA amyloidosis progression to ESRD

MedPage Today

One of the most serious complications of rheumat0logic and autoimmune diseases can be prevented with biologic drugs, a single-center chart review suggested, and some such products may be more effective than others.

Among 83 patients receiving biologic agents for their underlying

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Updated EULAR Recommendations on the Treatment of Systemic Sclerosis

Medscape

Medscape has published an overview to the 2024 updated recommendations for the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc) presented in Vienna at EULAR 2024 by Professor Francesco Del Galdo, MD, PhD on behalf of a 27 member task force.

The new recommendations (n=20)

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Efficacy of Biologics in Patients with Chronic KIdney Disease

A retrospective cohort study of biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) persistence in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), shows the 3 year survicval to be under 50% but that all studied biologics were nearly

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PMR - a Risk Factor for Recalcitrant Giant Cell Arteritis?

Despite the clinical similarities and treatment differences between  giant cell arteritis (GCA polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), confusion exists regarding the impact of overlapping disorders. A large cohort study shows that GCA patients with PMR symptoms are

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Future Big BiTEs (6.28.2024)

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

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#opportunistic inf in #autoimmune dz 🎤 @khyrich 👉#herpes zost is ⬆️⬆️,esp😳#lupus (💉 >18yo🇺🇸) 👉#HBV react ⬆️⬆️ w/ RTX (9.1%) >>TNFi, JAKi, IL-6 👉 🙅‍♂️ #TB repeat 🧪 on #DMARD if 🚫new risk fact/gap⚠️ 🔗#eular 2022 guide: https://t.co/PIpGpTrH28 #eular2024 #rheumx @RheumNow https://t.co/kouXvradiC
Artem Minalyan, MD, DABOM @AMinalyan( View Tweet )

EULAR 2024 – Day 2 Report (A Difficult RA Day)

Day 2 at EULAR 2024 was a big poster day for many with several good sessions and oral presentations on Preventing RA, new vasculitis therapies and a session devoted to the 50th anniversary of the Moll & Wright Criteria.

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OP0137 is comparative analysis of clinical efficacy & drug retention of b/tsDMARDs >1/2 D2T RA pts starting JAKi, RTX, IL-6Ri, or TNFi, but ~1/3 w abatacept, achieved remission or low disease activity in 6m & maintained consistent drug retention for 2yrs @RheumNow #EULAR2024

Mrinalini Dey @DrMiniDey( View Tweet )

EULAR 2024: New drugs for RA?

Several abstracts are presenting new compounds, targeting either RA well-known inflammatory pathways or offering new mechanisms of action or therapeutic sequences; these are summarized below.

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LONG-TERM EFFICACY TOCILIZUMAB AFTER ULTRA-SHORT GC TO TREAT GCA: 3 Yr FOLLOW-UP OF THE GUSTO TRIAL 3 day GC pulse immediate 12 mths Toci 85% drug free remission at 4 yrs! @rheumnow #EULAR2024

Peter Nash @drpnash( View Tweet )

Pharmacologic Efficacy in Still's Disease

A systematic review of the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological treatments for adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) supports the use of either IL-1 or IL-6 inhibitors.

A metanalysis was performed using databases, trial

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Is IL-6 a potential therapeutic target in neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE)? Just published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation- Some interesting findings from the Putterman lab in a murine NPSLE model... https://t.co/7yn2o7ZRxS

chaim putterman @ChaimPutterman( View Tweet )

Window of Opportunity in Psoriatic Arthritis

A Dutch Early Psoriatic Arthritis cohort study shows that psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients treated early (referred and diagnosed  within in less than 12 weeks) had the best clinical outcomes. 

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Naysayers & Disrupters (3.22.2024)

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week - including a few contrary reports on infection, seropositivity and plasmapheresis.

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Ides of March (3.15.2024)

Dr. Jack Cush has advice for Caesar and the superstitious, and covers pregnancy, platelets, dialysis and vaccinations in Lupus.





  1. Dutch study of 586 RA pts on bDMARDs found more nonserious infections (NSIE) (77/100PYs) than serious infx (SIE)(1.3/100Pys). Upper respiratory

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US Trends in RA DMARD Use 2017-2021

A trend analysis of DMARDs shows that only half of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are taking DMARDs, and that the COVID-19 pandemic substantially affected DMARD use. Despite numerous DMARD advances and evolving treatment guidelines since 1990, older therapies are still commonly used and

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JAMA Review of DMARD Use in Rheumatoid Arthritis

JAMA has reviewed the "2022 EULAR Recommendations for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis With Synthetic and Biological Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs". 

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Effective Treatments for Still's Disease

A systematic review of pharmacological treatments for adult-onset Still disease (AOSD) supports the efficacy of tocilizumab (TCZ), anakinra (ANK), and canakinumab (CNK).



Data and results from 44 studies abstracts evaluated treatments, including nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (

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Depression and RA (3.8.2024)

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports and regulatory approvals from the past week.

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Sniffles & Arthritis (3.1.2024)

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. Are these associations with infection, biomarkers and weather real or imaginary? Linked or luck? Causal or casual?  You decide....





  1. No clear link between weather & MSK symptoms

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Cochrane Review: How Good is Ultrasound Diagnosing GCA?

Is temporal artery ultrasound equivalent or superior to the reference standard of temporal artery biopsy when diagnosing giant cell arteritis (GCA)?

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Dr. J. Giles reviews adipose tissue as a source of inflammatory cytokines like TNF, IL-6, IL-1, IL17, etc. #RWCS24 @RWCSmtg @RheumNow https://t.co/AYD9PpwNE6
Dr. Rachel Tate @uptoTate( View Tweet )

VITAL Info on Autoimmune Disease (2.9.2024)

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. Highlights are summarized by three songs: "Stairway to Heaven", "You're No Good", and "How Long (has this been going on)".





  1. Many #RA pts remain on Steroids despite b/tsDMARD use! Study 228 #RA pts

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Pre-Treatment Testing with Biologics Falls Short

US commercial insurance claim analysis of laboratory screening and monitoring practices in chronic inflammatory skin disease (CISD) patients shows that < 60% received the recommended pretreatment testing when starting systemic immunomodulatory treatment.

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Interesting nuance from @philseo re tocilizumab in GCA. For new onset disease, it may be appropriate to use every other week tocilizumab @RheumNow #RNL2024 https://t.co/moCvpQSkq0
Richard Conway @RichardPAConway( View Tweet )