Clinical aspects of psoriatic arthritis: one year in review 2024.

Psoriatic arthritis is a very pleomorphic inflammatory disease characterised by its association with psoriasis and the development of a wide spectrum of comorbidities that can impact patients' prognosis and quality of life.In recent years, several new drugs have been developed, showing significant efficacy in alleviating symptoms and signs, while maintaining a generally favourable safety profile. Despite these advancements, the management of PsA remains potentially suboptimal.

Surface Treatment of Polyamide 6 through Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Covalent Incorporation of Chitosan Nanoparticles.

Polyamide (PA) has notable physical and chemical properties and is one of the most versatile synthetic materials in the industrial sector. However, its hydrophobicity creates significant challenges in its beneficiation and modification. Modifications of PA with chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) can improve its undesired properties but are rarely found in the literature due to the weak interaction between the chemical groups of both structures.

Eight Year Follow-Up After Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy in a Brazilian Cohort: Weight Trajectory and Health Outcomes.

Introduction: Despite Sleeve Gastrectomy (SG) being the most commonly performed bariatric surgery today, studies with over 5 years of follow-up show that patients undergoing SG have inferior weight loss compared to those undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). The aim of this study was to examine differences in weight loss and the prevalence of weight regain between SG and RYGB up to 8 years after surgery.

Methods: Retrospective study including adult patients undergoing SG or RYGB between 2015 and 2018 at a tertiary center in Brazil.

Impact of disease activity patterns on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Objective: To assess the impact of different disease activity patterns-long quiescent (LQ), chronically active (CA) and relapsing-remitting (RR)-on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: A retrospective, monocentric analysis of prospectively collected data. Adult SLE outpatients were enrolled between 2017 and 2021.

When is the right time to change therapy? An observational study of the time to response to immunosuppressive drugs in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: To analyse the response to immunosuppressants (IS) in extrarenal flares of SLE to determine the most appropriate timing during follow-up for a change in therapeutic strategy.

Methods: Observational cohort study including a total of 81 patients with SLE with extrarenal flares requiring a change in IS over the period 2015-2022. Baseline clinical variables were described, and follow-up data at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months time-points were collected.

Dapagliflozin Effects on Cardiac Deformation in Heart Failure and Secondary Clinical Outcome.

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors were shown to reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure.

Objectives: This study aims to assess potential effects of dapagliflozin in nondiabetic patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) on cardiac function assessed by speckle tracking echocardiography (STE).

Methods: This randomized, prospective, single-center, open-label trial compared consecutive nondiabetic outpatients with HFrEF or HFmrEF receiving dapagliflozin with patients treated with optimal medical therapy (OMT) except sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors.

Biodegradation study of poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate)/halloysite/oregano essential oil compositions in simulated soil conditions.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of halloysite clay nanoparticles - unmodified (Hal) and organically modified (mHal) - and oregano essential oil (OEO), used as an antimicrobial agent in active packaging, on the biodegradation behavior of poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) films. Five samples were prepared by melt mixing using 3 wt% clay, and 8 wt% and 10.4 wt% OEO.

Diabetes Care in A Safety Net Hospital: Impact of a Pharmacist Transitional Care Service.

Diabetes is associated with increased risk of hospital readmission and imposes a significant economic burden on patients and healthcare systems. Literature suggests that pharmacist-led transitions-of-care (TOC) services reduce hospital readmissions and improve patient outcomes and data within safety-net hospitals is limited. This was a single-center evaluation to assess the impact of pharmacist-led diabetes TOC services on hospital readmissions among diabetes patients vs standard care (SC).

Disease evolution and organ damage accrual in patients with stable UCTD: a long-term monocentric inception cohort.

Objectives: Undifferentiated connective tissue diseases (UCTDs) are systemic autoimmune conditions that cannot be diagnosed nor classified as defined CTD; the majority maintains an undifferentiated profile (stable UCTD, sUCTD) over time. Data on long-term outcomes of sUCTD are lacking.

Methods: Retrospective longitudinal analysis of an inception cohort of 141 patients with sUCTD.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: one year in review 2023.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are a group of rare, autoimmune, diseases typically involving striate muscle and also variously affecting several other systems or organs, such as joints, skin, lungs, heart and gastrointestinal tract. IIM are mainly characterised by subacute onset and chronic course and are burdened by significant morbidity and mortality. Despite the rarity of these conditions, several efforts have been undertaken in the last years to better understand their pathogenesis, as well as to achieve a more precise classification and to define the optimal therapeutic approach.

Evaluation of Nanopore Sequencing on Polar Bodies for Routine Pre-Implantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy.

Background: Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) using polar body (PB) biopsy offers a clinical benefit by reducing the number of embryo transfers and miscarriage rates but is currently not cost-efficient. Nanopore sequencing technology opens possibilities by providing cost-efficient and fast sequencing results with uncomplicated sample preparation work flows.

Methods: In this comparative experimental study, 102 pooled PB samples (99 passing QC) from 20 patients were analyzed for aneuploidy using nanopore sequencing technology and compared with array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) results generated as part of the clinical routine.

Therapeutic strategies and outcomes in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus: an international multicentre retrospective study.

Objectives: The management of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) poses considerable challenges due to limited clinical trials. Therapeutic decisions are customized based on suspected pathogenic mechanisms and symptoms severity. This study aimed to investigate therapeutic strategies and disease outcome for patients with NPSLE experiencing their first neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestation.

Attachment networks in young adults.

Introduction: This study investigated attachment networks in a sample of Italian young adults. Attachment networks were defined in terms of attachment functions, attachment strength, the presence of a primary figure, and full-blown attachments.

Method: Participants were 405 young adults, and we studied the effects of the demographic variables of gender, romantic status (whether single, involved in a romantic relationship for less or more than 24 months) and employment (whether university students or workers) on the structure of attachment networks.

Axial spondyloarthritis: one year in review 2023.

Axial spondyloarthritides (axSpA) are a group of systemic autoimmune diseases, characterised by an inflammatory involvement of the axial skeleton, which, in the earlier phases, cannot be detected by conventional radiology, but only by magnetic resonance imaging, thus defining the so-called non-radiographic axSpA (nr-axSpA). The initial osteitis then tends to complicate into bone reabsorption and aberrant bone deposition, which then determines the ankylosis of the axial skeleton in the latest phases of the disease.Peripheral joints may also be affected, enthesitis being its more characteristic manifestation.

Impact of maternally derived meiotic aneuploidies on early embryonic development in vitro.

Purpose: To assess early embryonic developmental potential of embryos affected by maternally inherited meiotic aneuploidies.

Methods: This observational, descriptive study includes 930 oocytes from 151 patients which were retrospectively analyzed by combining the morphological assessment with the genetic results from polar body diagnosis.

Results: Of 930 oocytes examined, 566 (60.

Psoriatic arthritis: one year in review 2022.

Psoriatic arthritis is a systemic autoimmune disease, in which a characteristic heterogeneous inflammatory involvement of entheses and both peripheral and axial joints tends to be associated with different clinical features, in particular skin or nail psoriasis, but also inflammatory bowel diseases, or acute anterior uveitis. Patients with PsA are at higher risk of developing comorbidities, in particular metabolic syndrome, with a significant impact on their quality of life. Although the advanced knowledge in the pathogenetic mechanisms of PsA helped in developing an abundant therapeutical armamentarium, the available drugs might still show a suboptimal efficacy.