Cardiovascular risk management in gout patients: do patients benefit from screening in secondary care?

Objectives: To estimate the 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in gout patients in secondary care and to evaluate the effect of CVD risk screening on the 10-year CVD risk after 1 year.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed in patients with gout from Reade Amsterdam. Data on gout and CVD history, traditional risk factors, medication, and lifestyle were collected at baseline and 1 year.

Antibody development and disease severity of COVID-19 in non-immunised patients with rheumatic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: data from a prospective cohort study.

Background: Research on the disease severity of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) has been inconclusive, and long-term prospective data on the development of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in these patients are lacking.

Methods: Adult patients with rheumatic IMIDs from the Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center, Amsterdam were invited to participate. All patients were asked to recruit their own sex-matched and age-matched control subject.

Incidence and risk factors for adalimumab and infliximab anti-drug antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis: A European retrospective multicohort analysis.

Objectives: To evaluate the incidence of anti-drug antibody (ADA) occurrences and ADA-related risk factors under adalimumab and infliximab treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Methods: The study combined retrospective cohorts from the ABIRISK project totaling 366 RA patients treated with adalimumab (n = 240) or infliximab (n = 126), 92.4% of them anti-TNF naive (n = 328/355) and 96.

MRP8/14 serum levels as a strong predictor of response to biological treatments in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: One-third of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with biological therapy show lack of response. The use of predictive biomarkers to identify responders to treatment may provide guidance in optimising treatment strategies and reduce unnecessary side effects and costs.

Objective: To test the ability of myeloid-related proteins (MRP)8/14 protein complexes, an endogenous TLR-4 receptor agonist, to predict and monitor response to biologics in RA patients.

Local synovial engagement of angiogenic TIE-2 is associated with the development of persistent erosive rheumatoid arthritis in patients with early arthritis.

Objective: To examine the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin signaling in the diagnosis and disease outcome of patients with early arthritis.

Methods: Fifty patients with early arthritis (disease duration <1 year) who had not been treated with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were monitored prospectively and were classified at baseline and after 2 years as having undifferentiated arthritis (UA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or spondyloarthritis (SpA). All patients underwent arthroscopic synovial biopsy at baseline.

Anti-TNF therapy reduces serum levels of chemerin in rheumatoid arthritis: a new mechanism by which anti-TNF might reduce inflammation.

Background: Chemerin is a specific chemoattractant for macrophages and dendritic cells (DC). In addition, it can rapidly stimulate macrophage adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins and adhesion molecules and is able to activate fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS), suggesting a role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Chemerin is also an adipocytokine that has been related to the inflammatory state of endothelial cells and as such could be involved in the changes in endothelial cells in RA and perhaps increased cardiovascular morbidity.

The features of the synovium in early rheumatoid arthritis according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria.

Objectives: It has been shown in early arthritis cohorts that the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) enable an earlier diagnosis, perhaps at the cost of a somewhat more heterogeneous patient population. We describe the features of synovial inflammation in RA patients classified according to these new criteria.

Methods: At baseline, synovial tissue biopsy samples were obtained from disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-naïve early RA patients (clinical signs and symptoms <1 year).

Characteristics of synovial inflammation in early arthritis analysed by pixel-by-pixel time-intensity curve shape analysis.

Objective: Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE-MRI) time-intensity curve (TIC) shape analysis has previously been used in oncology, where fast initial enhancement and early washout are associated with malignancy. As RA synovium has some tumour-like features, we investigated DCE-MRI TIC shape expression in early arthritis in relationship to diagnosis.

Methods: Twenty-eight DMARD-naïve, early arthritis patients (<1 year) with inflammation of at least one knee joint were included.

Selective involvement of ERK and JNK mitogen-activated protein kinases in early rheumatoid arthritis (1987 ACR criteria compared to 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria): a prospective study aimed at identification of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers as well as therapeutic targets.

Objectives: To investigate the expression and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases in patients with early arthritis who are disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) naïve.

Methods: A total of 50 patients with early arthritis who were DMARD naïve (disease duration <1 year) were prospectively followed and diagnosed at baseline and after 2 years for undifferentiated arthritis (UA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and 2010 ACR/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) criteria), or spondyloarthritis (SpA). Synovial biopsies obtained at baseline were examined for expression and phosphorylation of p38, extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) by immunohistochemistry and digital analysis.

The value of rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies as predictors of response to infliximab in rheumatoid arthritis: an exploratory study.

Objective: It remains unclear whether autoantibodies are useful biomarkers to tailor the choice of biological treatment in RA. We investigated the relationship between the presence and levels of different RF and ACPA isotypes and the response to TNF blockade in an exploratory study.

Methods: A total of 101 active RA patients were prospectively treated with infliximab (3 mg/kg).

Body mass index and clinical response to infliximab in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Adipose tissue has immunomodulating effects in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), although the exact role is, at present, unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether body mass index (BMI) affects response to infliximab in RA patients investigated prospectively.

Methods: In 89 patients with active RA, the BMI was calculated before initiation of infliximab treatment (3 mg/kg intravenously).

Surprising negative association between IgG1 allotype disparity and anti-adalimumab formation: a cohort study.

Introduction: The human monoclonal antibody adalimumab is known to induce an anti-globulin response in some adalimumab-treated patients. Antibodies against adalimumab (AAA) are associated with non-response to treatment. Immunoglobulins, such as adalimumab, carry allotypes which represent slight differences in the amino acid sequences of the constant chains of an IgG molecule.

Presence of lymphocyte aggregates in the synovium of patients with early arthritis in relationship to diagnosis and outcome: is it a constant feature over time?

Objectives: To evaluate the presence of lymphocyte aggregates in synovial tissue of patients with early arthritis in relationship to clinical outcome and to determine whether this is a stable feature over time.

Methods: Arthroscopic synovial biopsy samples were collected in a prospective cohort of disease-modifying antirheumatic drug-naïve patients with early arthritis (<1 year's disease duration) at baseline (n=93) and, if rheumatoid arthritis was suspected, after 6 months of follow-up (n=17). After 2 years of follow-up, definitive diagnosis and clinical outcome were assessed.

The gene expression profile in the synovium as a predictor of the clinical response to infliximab treatment in rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Although the use of TNF inhibitors has fundamentally changed the way rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is treated, not all patients respond well. It is desirable to facilitate the identification of responding and non-responding patients prior to treatment, not only to avoid unnecessary treatment but also for financial reasons. In this work we have investigated the transcriptional profile of synovial tissue sampled from RA patients before anti-TNF treatment with the aim to identify biomarkers predictive of response.

Regulation of IFN response gene activity during infliximab treatment in rheumatoid arthritis is associated with clinical response to treatment.

Introduction: Cross-regulation between TNF and type I IFN has been postulated to play an important role in autoimmune diseases. Therefore, we determined the effect of TNF blockade in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on the type I IFN response gene activity in relation to clinical response.

Methods: Peripheral blood from 33 RA patients was collected in PAXgene tubes before and after the start of infliximab treatment.

Type I interferons have no major influence on humoral autoimmunity in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Type I IFNs have recently been implicated in autoantibody-mediated diseases such as SLE. As half the RA patients display a type I IFN(high) signature, we investigated in a pilot study if type I IFN determines the autoantibody response in RA.

Methods: Serum and peripheral blood cells were obtained from 52 RA patients, with paired samples before and after infliximab treatment in 21 patients.

Monocyte scintigraphy in rheumatoid arthritis: the dynamics of monocyte migration in immune-mediated inflammatory disease.

Background: Macrophages are principal drivers of synovial inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a prototype immune-mediated inflammatory disease. Conceivably, synovial macrophages are continuously replaced by circulating monocytes in RA. Animal studies from the 1960s suggested that macrophage replacement by monocytes is a slow process in chronic inflammatory lesions.

The relationship between synovial lymphocyte aggregates and the clinical response to infliximab in rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective study.

Objective: Some patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) exhibit lymphocyte aggregates in the synovium. This study was undertaken to address whether the presence of lymphocyte aggregates before treatment could serve as a biomarker for the clinical response to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockade, and to confirm whether the aggregation of synovial lymphocytes is reversible after anti-TNF treatment.

Methods: Synovial tissue biopsy samples were obtained from 97 patients with active RA before the initiation of infliximab treatment.

Analysis of apoptosis in peripheral blood and synovial tissue very early after initiation of infliximab treatment in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: Infliximab treatment results in a decrease in synovial cellularity as early as 48 hours after initiation of therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study was undertaken to investigate whether infliximab induces apoptosis within the first 24 hours after infusion.

Methods: The percentage of apoptotic cells was determined by flow cytometry in blood drawn from 21 patients directly before, 1 hour after, and 24 hours after infliximab infusion.

Synovial lymphoid neogenesis does not define a specific clinical rheumatoid arthritis phenotype.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between lymphoid neogenesis in the synovium of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and characteristics of inflammation and disease severity.

Methods: Arthroscopic synovial biopsy was performed in 103 patients with active RA (Disease Activity Score 28-joint assessment >or=3.2) who had not received treatment with biologic agents.

Increased cortisol relative to adrenocorticotropic hormone predicts improvement during anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Some patients with chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) improve rapidly from anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy. No sensitive markers are available that might predict outcome of anti-TNF therapy. We undertook this study to investigate the predictive value of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hormones for clinical improvement during anti-TNF therapy.