The impact of autoantibodies on the efficacy of biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of bDMARDs in patients with RA with RF/ACPA compared with patients without these autoantibodies.

Methods: Previous systematic literature reviews performed by EULAR RA management task forces were searched for qualifying RCTs. RCTs investigating the efficacy of bDMARDs and including both autoantibody-positive (≤80% of total population) and -negative RA patients were eligible.

Hydroxychloroquine in patients with inflammatory and erosive osteoarthritis of the hands: results of the OA-TREAT study-a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre, investigator-initiated trial.

Objectives: Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition characterised by cartilage degradation and frequently erosive changes. Analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used for symptomatic relief but are often poorly tolerated or contraindicated. Previous publications suggest hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a possible treatment for hand OA.

EULAR/eumusc.net standards of care for rheumatoid arthritis: cross-sectional analyses of importance, level of implementation and care gaps experienced by patients and rheumatologists across 35 European countries.

Objective: As part of European League against Rheumatism (EULAR)/European Musculoskeletal Conditions Surveillance and Information Network, 20 user-focused standards of care (SoCs) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) addressing 16 domains of care were developed. This study aimed to explore gaps in implementation of these SoCs across Europe.

Methods: Two cross-sectional surveys on the importance, level of and barriers (patients only) to implementation of each SoC (0-10, 10 highest) were designed to be conducted among patients and rheumatologists in 50 European countries.

Safety management in treatment with antimalarials in rheumatology. Interdisciplinary recommendations on the basis of a systematic literature review.

Background: Antimalarial medication (AM) plays an important role in the treatment of rheumatic diseases.

Objective: Updated evidence-based recommendations on the safety management of rheumatological treatment with AM are presented.

Methods: A systematic literature search in the databases Medline (PubMed) and Cochrane identified 1160 studies on the safety of treatment with AM in rheumatology.

[Safety management of the treatment with antimalarial drugs in rheumatology. Interdisciplinary recommendations based on a systematic literature search].

Background: Antimalarial medication (AM) plays an important role in the treatment of rheumatic diseases.

Objective: Updated evidence-based recommendations on the safety management of rheumatological treatment with AM are presented.

Methods: A systematic literature search in the databases Medline (PubMed) and Cochrane identified 1160 studies on the safety of treatment with AM in rheumatology.

Effectiveness and safety of anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy with certolizumab pegol observed in real-life rheumatoid arthritis patients in Germany: results from the non-interventional FαsT study.

Objectives: To report the tolerability and effectiveness of certolizumab pegol (CZP) for the treatment of patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a routine clinical practice setting.

Methods: FαsT (NCT01069419) was a non-interventional, observational 104-week (wk) study performed at 163 sites in Germany. RA patients were treated according to the treating physician's discretion.

[Higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in early arthritis patients in comparison to the normal population].

Background: Many studies and registry data confirm that depression, often associated with anxiety disorders is very often found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To what extent these psychiatric disorders are already relevant at a very early stage of the disease, has currently not been adequately investigated.

Methods: In this study 176 patients with early joint symptoms (<1 year) were surveyed in an early arthritis consultation (EAC).

[S2e guideline: treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with disease-modifying drugs].

Background: Medication-based strategies to treat rheumatoid arthritis are crucial in terms of outcome. They aim at preventing joint destruction, loss of function and disability by early and consistent inhibition of inflammatory processes.

Objective: Achieving consensus about evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in Germany.

Inflammation Is an Important Covariate for the Crosstalk of Sleep and the HPA Axis in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have sleep problems, and inflammation influences sleep. We demonstrated that sleep quality improves during intensified treatment with methotrexate (MTX) or etanercept (ETA). Since the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is involved in sleep regulation, this study investigated the interrelation between sleep parameters, inflammation as objectified by C-reactive protein (CRP), and serum cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels.

Plant-derived pectin nanocoatings to prevent inflammatory cellular response of osteoblasts following infection.

Background: Bioengineered plant-derived Rhamnogalacturonan-Is (RG-Is) from pectins are potential candidates for surface nanocoating of medical devices. It has recently been reported that RG-I nanocoatings may prevent bacterial infection and improve the biocompatibility of implants. The aim of the study was to evaluate in vitro impact of bioengineered RG-I nanocoatings on osteogenic capacity and proinflammatory cytokine response of murine osteoblasts following infection.

Nanocoating with plant-derived pectins activates osteoblast response in vitro.

A new strategy to improve osseointegration of implants is to stimulate adhesion of bone cells, bone matrix formation, and mineralization at the implant surface by modifying surface coating on the nanoscale level. Plant-derived pectins have been proposed as potential candidates for surface nanocoating of orthopedic and dental titanium implants due to 1) their osteogenic stimulation of osteoblasts to mineralize and 2) their ability to control pectin structural changes. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro the impact of the nanoscale plant-derived pectin Rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) from potato on the osteogenic response of murine osteoblasts.

Sequential high-content profiling of the IgG-autoantibody repertoire reveals novel antigens in rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: The aim was to identify novel diagnostic autoantibody candidates for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by comprehensive screening for autoreactivity.

Method: We incubated 5892 recombinant proteins coupled to fluorescent beads, with patients' sera for the detection of IgG-autoantibodies in three independent patient cohorts: A (n = 72 patients with established RA); B/B- (n = 116 patients with early RA (B) and n = 51 CCP-negative patients with early RA from B (B-)); and C (n = 184 patients with early seronegative RA), in comparison to matched healthy controls. Intersects of significantly increased autoantibodies as determined by the Mann-Whitney test were sought.

Induction maintenance with tumour necrosis factor-inhibitor combination therapy with discontinuation versus methotrexate monotherapy in early rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy in randomised controlled trials.

Objective: To determine whether an induction-maintenance strategy of combined therapy (methotrexate (MTX)+tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor (TNFi)) followed by withdrawal of TNFi could yield better long-term results than a strategy with MTX monotherapy, since it is unclear if the benefits from an induction phase with combined therapy are sustained if TNFi is withdrawn.

Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of trials using the initial combination of MTX+TNFi in conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug-naïve patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A systematic literature search was performed for induction-maintenance randomised controlled trials (RCTs) where initial combination therapy was compared with MTX monotherapy in patients with clinically active early RA.

Genomic stratification by expression of HLA-DRB4 alleles identifies differential innate and adaptive immune transcriptional patterns - A strategy to detect predictors of methotrexate response in early rheumatoid arthritis.

Effective drug selection is the current challenge in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Treatment failure may follow different pathomechanisms and therefore require investigation of molecularly defined subgroups. In this exploratory study, whole blood transcriptomes of 68 treatment-naïve early RA patients were analyzed before initiating MTX.

Sustained Increase of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels in Healthy Young Women during Wintertime after Three Suberythemal UV Irradiations-The MUVY Pilot Study.

Objectives: Vitamin D (VitD) deficiency is a health problem prevalent not only in the elderly but also in young adults. The primary objective of our observational pilot study "MUVY" (Mood, UVR, Vitamin D in Young women) was to test both the short-term and long-term effects of a series of three suberythemal UV radiation (UVR) exposures on the VitD status and well-being of young healthy women during winter in a repeat measure design.

Methods: 20 healthy young women (Fitzpatrick skin types I-III, aged 21-25 years) received three full body broad band UVR exposures with an escalating erythemally weighted dose schedule during one week in winter, and completed self-report questionnaires monitoring symptoms of depression (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI) and affective state/well-being (Profile of Mood States, POMS) at baseline and three days after the last UVR exposure.

Effects of treatment with etanercept versus methotrexate on sleep quality, fatigue and selected immune parameters in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: To compare sleep quality, disease activity and patient-reported outcomes such as fatigue and immune parameters in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with etanercept (ETA) or methotrexate (MTX).

Methods: Of 36 patients (28-joint Disease Activity Score, DAS28CRP≥3.2) in this 16-week (w), open, prospective study, 19 (11 women) received MTX 12.

Economic considerations and patients' preferences affect treatment selection for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a discrete choice experiment among European rheumatologists.

Objective: To compare the value that rheumatologists across Europe attach to patients' preferences and economic aspects when choosing treatments for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: In a discrete choice experiment, European rheumatologists chose between two hypothetical drug treatments for a patient with moderate disease activity. Treatments differed in five attributes: efficacy (improvement and achieved state on disease activity), safety (probability of serious adverse events), patient's preference (level of agreement), medication costs and cost-effectiveness (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER)).

Increased Periodontal Attachment Loss in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis.

Background: Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and periodontitis share common pathogenetic characteristics, such as proinflammatory traits causative for tissue degradation and loss of function. The aim of the present case control study is to investigate the association between systemic sclerosis (SSc) and periodontitis.

Methods: The association between SSc and periodontitis was examined in 58 SSc patients and 52 control patients, matched for age and sex.

Short-term placebo response in trials of patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis: differences between hip and knee.

Background: In placebo-controlled RCT of symptomatic treatment in osteoarthritis (OA) the extent of pain reduction is heterogeneous, the pooled effect size rather small. Pain reduction is typically higher in knee than in hip trials. The recommended trial duration is 3 months, but in knee OA the best treatment effect vs placebo is observed at 2 weeks.

Biologic monotherapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Biologics, possibly in combination with a conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) - preferably methotrexate (MTX), are used in accordance with the recommendations of the international rheumatological societies. However, in clinical practice, this recommendation is often problematic, as many rheumatologists know from personal experience. The quality of life of the patient is affected mainly by drug-induced intolerances (eg, MTX).

Who gets credit for input? Demographic and structural status cues in voice recognition.

The authors investigate the employee features that, alongside overall voice expression, affect supervisors' voice recognition. Drawing primarily from status characteristics and network position theories, the authors propose and find in a study of 693 employees from 89 different credit union units that supervisors are more likely to credit those reporting the same amount of voice if the employees have higher ascribed or assigned (by the organization) status--cued by demographic variables such as majority ethnicity and full-time work hours. Further, supervisors are more likely to recognize voice from employees who have higher achieved status--cued by their centrality in informal social structures.