Weight Loss for Patients With Gout and Concomitant Obesity: A Proof-of-Concept Randomized Trial.

Objective: Despite scarce evidence, guidelines recommend weight loss as a management strategy for patients with gout. We investigated the effect of an intensive dietary intervention on body weight and clinical measures of gout severity in individuals with obesity and gout.

Methods: We conducted a 16-week randomized nonmasked parallel-group trial in Denmark, randomly assigning (one-to-one) individuals with obesity and gout to a low-energy diet or a control diet.

Probing cellular health at the muscle level-Multi-frequency bioimpedance in Parkinson's disease.

Bioimpedance (mfBIA) non-invasively assesses cellular muscle health. Our aim was to explore whether mfBIA captures abnormal cellular muscle health in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and how such changes are modulated with the use of Parkinson's medication. In patients with PD (n = 20) mfBIA measurements were made of biceps brachii, triceps, and extensor carpi radialis longus muscles of the more affected arm whilst at rest, using a mobile mfBIA device (IMPEDIMED, Australia).

Liraglutide after diet-induced weight loss for pain and weight control in knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Weight loss is critical for preventing and managing obesity-related diseases. There is a notable lack of valid and reliable means to manage patients with overweight/obesity and knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of liraglutide in a 30 mg/d dosing in patients with overweight/obesity and KOA.

[Mucoid cysts on the fingers].

In this review, we discuss mucoid cysts, which are common benign cysts, most often located dorsally or laterally to the distal interphalangeal joint. The origin of the cyst is suggested to be similar to that of a ganglion, or to be a degeneration of dermis, and it is often linked to osteoarthritis. Two types of mucoid cysts seem to exist, probably needing different treatment.

Multi-frequency bioimpedance: a non-invasive tool for muscle-health assessment of adults with cerebral palsy.

Muscle contracture development is a major complication for individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) and has lifelong implications. In order to recognize contracture development early and to follow up on preventive interventions aimed at muscle health development, non-invasive, and easy to use methods are needed. The aim of the present study was to assess whether multi-frequency Bioimpedance (mfBIA) can be used to detect differences between skeletal muscle of individuals with CP and healthy controls.

Novel insights into cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by abnormalities of muscle tone, movement and motor skills, and is attributed to injury to the developing brain. CP affects about 1 in 500 neonates. CP shows clinical features which evolve with age, and these may over time lead to deterioration of motor function although the lesion to the developing brain is non-progressive.

Muscle function assessed by the non-invasive method acoustic myography (AMG) in a Danish group of healthy adults.

Acoustic myography (AMG) is a non-invasive method to assess muscle function during daily activities. AMG has great scope for assessment of musculoskeletal problems. The aim of this study was to create an AMG data set for general clinical use and relate these findings to age and gender.

Adrenal insufficiency in prednisolone-treated patients with polymyalgia rheumatica or giant cell arteritis-prevalence and clinical approach.

Objectives: Glucocorticoid treatment is fundamental in polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA), but carries a risk of glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency. Adrenal insufficiency can cause reluctance to stop glucocorticoid treatment after disease remission as symptoms can resemble PMR/GCA flare. We aimed to determine the prevalence of adrenal insufficiency in prednisolone-treated patients with PMR/GCA.

Muscle assessment using multi-frequency bioimpedance in a healthy Danish population aged 20-69 years: a powerful non-invasive tool in sports and in the clinic.

The condition of active muscles determines an individual's ability to carry out daily activities and has implications for an athlete's performance. Multi-frequency bioimpedance (mfBIA) is a non-invasive, well-known, validated, and much used method to assess muscle condition. However, it is rarely used to its full potential.

An acoustic myography functional assessment of cerebral palsy subjects compared to healthy controls during physical exercise.

Individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) participate in reduced levels of physical activity and spend an increased amount of time in a sedentary state compared with healthy control subjects. Whether this in part can be explained by impaired muscle function is still unclear. The aim of the present study was to elucidate differences in muscle fibre recruitment during treadmill exercise between CP subjects and healthy age-, sex- and BMI-matched controls.

Effect of liraglutide on body weight and pain in patients with overweight and knee osteoarthritis: protocol for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, single-centre trial.

Introduction: With an increasing prevalence of citizens of older age and with overweight, the health issues related to knee osteoarthritis (OA) will intensify. Weight loss is considered a primary management strategy in patients with concomitant overweight and knee OA. However, there are no widely available and feasible methods to sustain weight loss in patients with overweight and knee OA.

Pain Mechanisms and Ultrasonic Inflammatory Activity as Prognostic Factors in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To study the prognostic value of widespread pain and of musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) examination for subsequent treatment outcomes in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: An exploratory prospective cohort study enrolled patients with PsA initiating biologic or conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in routine care. Clinical, US, and patient-reported measures were collected at baseline and after 4 months.

Association between IL-6 production in synovial explants from rheumatoid arthritis patients and clinical and imaging response to biologic treatment: A pilot study.

Introduction: The need for biomarkers which can predict disease course and treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is evident. We explored whether clinical and imaging responses to biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug treatment (bDMARD) were associated with the individual's mediator production in explants obtained at baseline.

Methods: RA Patients were evaluated by disease activity score 28 joint C-reactive protein (DAS 28-)), colour Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) and 3 Tesla RA magnetic resonance imaging scores (RAMRIS).

Effects of Lifestyle on Muscle Strength in a Healthy Danish Population.

Background: Lifestyle is expected to influence muscle strength. This study aimed at assessing a possible relationship between smoking, alcohol intake and physical activity, and muscle strength in a healthy Danish population aged 20-79 years. Population study based on data collected from The Copenhagen City Heart Study (CCHS) and measurements of Isokinetic muscle strength from a sub-study of randomly selected healthy participants from CCHS.

The relation between maximal voluntary force in m. palmaris longus and the temporal and spatial summation of muscle fiber recruitment in human subjects.

This study aimed at looking at the frequency (T-score) and the amplitude (S-score) of fiber use during contraction of a forearm muscle, m. palmaris longus, as measured by acoustic myography (AMG). An additional aim was to relate the T- and S-scores to the recorded force obtained from a hand dynamometer.

Antibody-Mediated Neutralization of uPA Proteolytic Function Reduces Disease Progression in Mouse Arthritis Models.

Genetic absence of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) reduces arthritis progression in the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mouse model to an extent just shy of disease abrogation, but this remarkable observation has not been translated into therapeutic intervention. Our aim was to test the potential in mice of an Ab that blocks the proteolytic capacity of uPA in the CIA model and the delayed-type hypersensitivity arthritis model. A second aim was to determine the cellular origins of uPA and the uPA receptor (uPAR) in joint tissue from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

C5a and C5aR are elevated in joints of rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis patients, and C5aR blockade attenuates leukocyte migration to synovial fluid.

Complement activation correlates to rheumatoid arthritis disease activity, and increased amounts of the complement split product C5a is observed in synovial fluids from rheumatoid arthritis patients. Blockade of C5a or its receptor (C5aR) is efficacious in several arthritis models. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of C5a and C5aR in human rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis-both with respect to expression and function.

A systematic review of measurement properties of patient reported outcome measures in psoriatic arthritis: A GRAPPA-OMERACT initiative.

Background: An updated psoriatic arthritis (PsA) core outcome set (COS) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was endorsed at the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) meeting in 2016.

Objectives: To synthesize the evidence on measurement properties of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) for PsA and thereby contribute to development of a PsA core outcome measurement set (COMS) as described by the OMERACT Filter 2.0.

Weight loss for overweight and obese individuals with gout: a systematic review of longitudinal studies.

Objectives: Weight loss is commonly recommended for gout, but the magnitude of the effect has not been evaluated in a systematic review. The aim of this systematic review was to determine benefits and harms associated with weight loss in overweight and obese patients with gout.

Methods: We searched six databases for longitudinal studies, reporting the effect of weight loss in overweight/obese gout patients.

Long-term weight-loss maintenance in obese patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized trial.

A formula low-energy diet (LED) reduces weight effectively in obese patients with knee osteoarthritis, but the role of LED in long-term weight-loss maintenance is unclear. We aimed to determine the effect of intermittent LED compared with daily meal replacements on weight-loss maintenance and number of knee replacements over 3 y. The design was a randomized trial with participants aged >50 y who had knee osteoarthritis and a body mass index [BMI (in kg/m)] ≥30.

Effect of specific exercise-based football injury prevention programmes on the overall injury rate in football: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the FIFA 11 and 11+ programmes.

Objective: To investigate the effect of FIFA injury prevention programmes in football (FIFA 11 and FIFA 11+).

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Eligibility Criteria For Selecting Studies: Randomised controlled trials comparing the FIFA injury prevention programmes with a control (no or sham intervention) among football players.

Reliability of Pain Measurements Using Computerized Cuff Algometry: A DoloCuff Reliability and Agreement Study.

Introduction: Computerized pneumatic cuff pressure algometry (CPA) using the DoloCuff is a new method for pain assessment. Intra- and inter-rater reliabilities have not yet been established. Our aim was to examine the inter- and intrarater reliabilities of DoloCuff measures in healthy subjects.