Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies are linked to erosive disease in an observational study of patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Objective: ACPAs are associated with bone destruction in RA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between ACPA and bone destruction in patients with a distinct inflammatory disorder, PsA.

Methods: We used baseline data from a large observational study of PsA patients preparing to initiate treatment with adalimumab to analyse demographic and disease characteristics by ACPA status.

Association between skin and joint involvement in patients with psoriatic arthritis treated with adalimumab: analysis of data from a German non-interventional study.

Background: The association between skin and joint manifestations in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) requires further characterization.

Objective: We evaluated the association between severity of skin disease and joint involvement and the effectiveness and safety of adalimumab in PsA patients by baseline psoriasis severity.

Methods: Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were used to evaluate data from 1,918 PsA patients starting adalimumab treatment.

Osteopontin as two-sided mediator of intestinal inflammation.

Osteopontin (OPN) is characterized as a major amplifier of Th1-immune responses. However, its role in intestinal inflammation is currently unknown. We found considerably raised OPN levels in blood of wild-type (WT) mice with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis.

Drug evaluation: CNTO-1275, a mAb against IL-12/IL-23p40 for the potential treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Centocor Inc is developing CNTO-1275 (ustekinumab), a subcantaneous mAb against the p40 subunit of IL-12 and IL-23, for the potential treatment of inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS) and Crohn's disease (CD). In July 2004, a phase II trial for MS had commenced, and by July 2006 this study was no longer recruiting patients. By May 2005, CNTO-1275 was in phase II studies for CD, and by January 2006 the antibody was in phase III studies for psoriasis.

IL-22 induces lipopolysaccharide-binding protein in hepatocytes: a potential systemic role of IL-22 in Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease (CD) is a common, chronic, inflammatory bowel disease characterized by intestinal infiltration of activated immune cells and distortion of the intestinal architecture. In this study, we demonstrate that IL-22, a cytokine that is mainly produced by activated Th1 and Th17 cells, was present in high quantities in the blood of CD patients in contrast to IFN-gamma and IL-17. In a mouse colitis model, IL-22 mRNA expression was elevated predominantly in the inflamed intestine but also in the mesenteric lymph nodes.

The elongated first fibronectin type III domain of collagen XIV is an inducer of quiescence and differentiation in fibroblasts and preadipocytes.

Collagen XIV (CXIV) is a fibril-associated collagen that is mainly expressed in well differentiated tissues and in late embryonic development. Because CXIV is almost absent in proliferating and/or dedifferentiated tissues, a functional role in maintaining cell differentiation is suspected. We demonstrate antiproliferative, quiescence- and differentiation-inducing effects of human CXIV and its recombinant fragments on mesenchymal cells.