Sex-specific risk of anti-topoisomerase antibodies on mortality and disease severity in systemic sclerosis: 10-year analysis of the Leiden CCISS and EUSTAR cohorts.

Background: We aimed to evaluate sex-specific risk of anti-topoisomerase I antibodies (ATA) on mortality, diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis, interstitial lung disease, and pulmonary hypertension in two cohorts of people with systemic sclerosis.

Methods: This study was a 10-year analysis of the prospective Leiden Combined Care in Systemic Sclerosis (CCISS) cohort in the Netherlands and the international European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) cohort. We included participants with systemic sclerosis according to the 2013 American College of Rheumatology-European League Against Rheumatism (ACR-EULAR) classification criteria; available autoantibody status; available skin subtyping; at least one available radiographic assessment of interstitial lung disease; and with a known date of disease onset.

Depression is associated with increased disease activity and higher disability in a large Italian cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Introduction: Depression is a quite common comorbidity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and is thought to influence its severity. This study aims to estimate, in a large cohort of Italian patients with RA, the prevalence of depression and to investigate the clinical correlates of depression in terms of disease activity and disability.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study enrolling 490 outpatients with RA (80% female, mean age 59.

Association of anti-RNA polymerase III antibody with silicone breast implants rupture in a multicentre series of Italian patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a heterogeneous systemic autoimmune disease with distinct subsets identified by specific autoantibodies. Some environmental agents might play a role in SSc pathogenesis, including silicone breast implants (SBI). This association has been controversial in previous literature and only few studies reported the auto-antibody status in these SSc women.

Pharmacokinetics of Oral Cholecalciferol in Healthy Subjects with Vitamin D Deficiency: A Randomized Open-Label Study.

Background: the aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetic (PK) and safety profile of high-dose vitamin D supplementation, comparing different schedules (daily, weekly, or bi-weekly) in an otherwise healthy vitamin D-deficient population. Methods single-center, open-label study on healthy subjects deficient in vitamin D (25 (OH)D < 20 ng/mL), randomized to receive cholecalciferol (DIBASE, Abiogen Pharma, Italy) using three different schedules: Group A: 10,000 IU/day for eight weeks followed by 1000 IU/day for four weeks; Group B: 50,000 IU/week for 12 weeks, Group C: 100,000 IU/every other week for 12 weeks. Total cumulative doses were: 588,000 IU, 600,000 IU, 600,000 IU.

Effect of a tailored home-based exercise program in patients with systemic sclerosis: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the effect of a home-based exercise program on functional capacity, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and disability, in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: A 6-month randomized controlled trial was conducted on SSc patients by comparing a home-based minimally supervised exercise program (exercise on a stationary cycle and strengthening of upper limbs; stretching of the hands) with usual care. At baseline and after 3 and 6 months, the patients underwent: 6 minutes walking test; hand mobility in scleroderma test; maximal exercise test on an ergocycle; strength measures (handgrip, quadriceps, and biceps).

Ultrasonography involvement of carotid, upper and lower limb arteries in a large cohort of systemic sclerosis patients.

Objectives: Data on macrovascular involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) are still debatable. The aim of this study was to estimate its prevalence and possible determinants in a large cohort.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-five outpatients with SSc were enrolled.

Osteoporosis in Rheumatic Diseases.

Osteoporosis is a chronic disease characterized by an increased risk of fragility fracture. Patients affected by rheumatic diseases are at greater risk of developing osteoporosis. The purpose of the present review is to discuss the pathogenesis, epidemiology, and treatment of osteoporosis in patients affected by rheumatic diseases with special focus for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, vasculitides, Sjogren syndrome, and crystal-induced arthritis.

Ultrasonographic detection, definition and quantification of soft tissue oedema in psoriatic dactylitis.

Aim: To define and score finger soft tissue oedema in psoriatic dactylitis by ultrasound.

Material And Methods: A systematic literature review (SLR) on ultrasound-detected finger soft tissue oedema was performed. Subsequently, based on the SLR, a Delphi survey was developed and circulated among a group of 13 expert sonographers, in order to obtain agreement on detection, definition and scoring of finger oedema by B-mode and power Doppler ultrasound.

Effects of biological and targeted synthetic DMARDs on bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis.

Bone loss is a typical consequence of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). It occurs not only locally, affecting the inflamed joints (erosions), but also systemically, leading to osteopenia and/or overt osteoporosis, with increased risk of fragility fractures. This complication, often underestimated, can worsen the burden of disability in RA patients.

Outcomes of patients with systemic sclerosis treated with rituximab in contemporary practice: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of rituximab in systemic sclerosis (SSc) in clinical practice.

Methods: We performed a prospective study including patients with SSc from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) network treated with rituximab and matched with untreated patients with SSc. The main outcomes measures were adverse events, skin fibrosis improvement, lung fibrosis worsening and steroids use among propensity score-matched patients treated or not with rituximab.

Vitamin D serum levels and the risk of digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis: A longitudinal study.

Aim: Low levels of vitamin D (25OHD) have been found to associated with digital ulcers (DUs) in systemic sclerosis (SSc), although only cross-sectional studies have been performed. We aimed to investigate if variations in vitamin D serum levels over time affect DU in SSc.

Methods: This is a retrospective study on 65 patients.

Overall mortality in combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema related to systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: This multicentre study aimed to investigate the overall mortality of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and to compare CPFE-SSc characteristics with those of other SSc subtypes (with interstitial lung disease-ILD, emphysema or neither).

Methods: Chest CTs, anamnestic data, immunological profile and pulmonary function tests of patients with SSc were retrospectively collected. Each chest CT underwent a semiquantitative assessment blindly performed by three radiologists.

Effects of Antiangiogenetic Drugs on Microcirculation and Macrocirculation in Patients with Advanced-Stage Renal Cancer.

Adverse cardiovascular effects, including hypertension, were described in patients with different cancers treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). The mechanism of TKI-related hypertension is still debated. The aim of this work was to study the effects of TKI on blood pressure (BP), searching for a relationship with possible causative factors in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Relationship Between Increased Fecal Calprotectin Levels and Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between fecal calprotectin (FC) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: The study enrolled 129 outpatients with SSc. Data about disease characteristics, in particular lung involvement, were collected and FC was measured.

Correction to: Is the exposure to bisphosphonates or osteoporosis the predictor of spinal radiographic progression in ankylosing spondylitis?

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported a typesetting error.

Parathyroid hormone is a determinant of serum Dickkopf-1 levels in ankylosing spondylitis.

Available studies reported contradictory results about serum levels Dickkopf-1 (DKK1), an inhibitor of Wnt signaling in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). In previous studies, we observed in other conditions that parathyroid hormone (PTH) serum levels were an important determinant of DKK1 serum levels. The aim of the present study was to investigate it in patients with AS.

Brief Report: Smoking in Systemic Sclerosis: A Longitudinal European Scleroderma Trials and Research Group Study.

Objective: Data on the role of tobacco exposure in systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) severity and progression are scarce. We aimed to assess the effects of smoking on the evolution of pulmonary and skin manifestations, based on the European Scleroderma Trials and Research group database.

Methods: Adult SSc patients with data on smoking history and a 12-24-month follow-up visit were included.

Clinical Correlates, Outcomes, and Predictors of Inflammatory Ocular Disease Associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Biologic Era.

Objective: Inflammatory ocular disease (IOD) is a rare but severe extraarticular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (ExRA) with high mortality. The aim of our study was to examine clinical characteristics of IOD in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their effect on disease severity and outcomes in recent years.

Methods: A retrospective cohort of RA patients with IOD evaluated between 1996 and 2013 was assembled and compared to RA comparators without IOD and matched for age, sex, and disease duration.

Vitamin D levels strongly influence bone mineral density and bone turnover markers during weight gain in female patients with anorexia nervosa.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate a potential role for vitamin D status on bone mineral density (BMD) during weight gain in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN).

Method: Spine and hip BMD assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), serum vitamin D (25-OH-D), N-propeptide of type I collagen (P1NP), C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX), and intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) were measured before and after a 20-week intensive weight-restoration program in ninety-one female patients with AN and secondary amenorrhoea.

Results: Ninety-one consecutive female patients (age 13-45 years; weight 39.