Factors associated with discontinuation of biologics in patients with inflammatory arthritis in remission: data from the BIOBADASER registry.

Background: The objectives of this study were to assess the discontinuation of biologic therapy in patients who achieve remission and identify predictors of discontinuation of biologics in patients with inflammatory arthritis in remission.

Methods: An observational retrospective study from the BIOBADASER registry comprising adult patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), or psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and receiving 1 or 2 biological disease-modifying drugs (bDMARDs) between October 1999 and April 2021. Patients were followed yearly after initiation of therapy or until discontinuation of treatment.

[Rheumatoid arthritis: how to use drugs during pregnancy and lactation?].

Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that is highly prevalent in women of childbearing age. A review is done about the characteristics of the placental barrier, the passage of drugs through it and the use of drugs during pregnancy: those which are potentially safe drugs, those drugs that can only be used if there is a life threatening condition for the mother, drugs that are contraindicated and those with insufficient data on safety and therefore should be avoided, the latter group comprises biological drugs. Also a review is done about the use of drugs during lactation, a period that a flare of rheumatoid arthritis can occur.

[Sensitivity and specificity of metabolic syndrome criteria for insulin resistance diagnosis in Spanish population].

Background And Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is an abdominal obesity and insulin resistance (IR)-related syndrome associated with a high cardiovascular risk. Recently, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has proposed a modification of the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) diagnostic criteria. However, the sensitivity of these new criteria has not been established.

Screening of APOB gene mutations in subjects with clinical diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia.

Monogenic hypercholesterolemia is a group of lipid disorders, most of which have autosomal dominant transmission. Familial defective apoB (FDB) resulting from mutations in the APOB gene is a well-recognized cause of autosomal dominant monogenic hypercholesterolemia (ADMH). However, the frequency of FDB among patients with ADMH is not well established.

Genetic variation in the hepatic lipase gene is associated with combined hyperlipidemia, plasma lipid concentrations, and lipid-lowering drug response.

Background: Combined hyperlipidemia (CHL) is a very frequent dyslipidemia, being lipid-lowering drugs often necessary in its management. Some genetic loci have been associated with CHL, and modulation of lipid-lowering treatment by genetic polymorphisms has been reported. We have investigated whether common polymorphisms in the hepatic lipase gene (LIPC) influence the baseline lipid concentration and the response to atorvastatin or bezafibrate in patients with CHL.

Ultrasonography for the evaluation of visceral fat and the metabolic syndrome.

Association between abdominal obesity and cardiovascular disease has been related with visceral adiposity, through the predisposition of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome (MS). Sonography is a simple and reliable method to measure both subcutaneous and visceral fat. To analyze the relationship of anthropometric measurements with abdominal adiposity measured by sonography and to analyze the utility of sonography in the prediction of insulin resistance (IR) and the other components of MS.

Tendon xanthomas in familial hypercholesterolemia are associated with cardiovascular risk independently of the low-density lipoprotein receptor gene mutation.

Objective: To investigate the significance of tendon xanthomas (TX) in heterozygous subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia (hFH).

Methods And Results: 951 men and women with genetic diagnosis of hFH were studied, of whom 278 (29.2%) presented TX.