Long-term Clinical Outcomes in Synovitis, Acne, Pustulosis, Hyperostosis, and Osteitis Syndrome.

Objective: To assess the outcome of empirical therapeutic interventions for synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, and osteitis (SAPHO) syndrome.

Methods: The clinical features and treatment outcomes of a cohort of 21 patients diagnosed with SAPHO in Western Australia were reviewed retrospectively.

Results: All 21 patients met published diagnostic criteria; 20 (95%) were Caucasian, and the median age was 47 years.

Oral Complementary Medicine Use among People with Inflammatory Arthritis: An Australian Rheumatology Association Database Analysis.

Objectives: To describe oral complementary medicine (CM) use in people with inflammatory arthritis, associations with use, and changes in use over time.

Methods: Demographic, clinical, and patient-reported outcome data from 5,630 participants with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) were extracted from the Australian Rheumatology Association Database (ARAD), a national observational database. CM use at entry into ARAD was ascertained for participants recruited between 2002 and 2018.

Undetectable mannose binding lectin is associated with HRCT proven bronchiectasis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Aim: The aim of this study was to ascertain whether mannose binding lectin deficiency is implicated in coexistent rheumatoid arthritis and bronchiectasis and to determine whether undetectable mannose binding lectin confers poorer long-term survival in coexistent rheumatoid arthritis and bronchiectasis or in rheumatoid arthritis in general.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective audit was conducted in a rheumatoid arthritis cohort in which mannose binding lectin had been measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay from 2007-11. Rheumatoid arthritis patients with physician diagnosed HRCT proven bronchiectasis were recruited during this time and compared to those with uncomplicated rheumatoid arthritis.

Undetectable Mannose Binding Lectin and Corticosteroids Increase Serious Infection Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background: Infection is the leading cause of death in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Corticosteroid (CS) use is a known and important risk factor for serious infections (SIs). Mannose binding lectin (MBL) is a genetically determined component of the innate immune system implicated in neonatal infections.

Efficacy of patient information concerning casts applied post-fracture.

Introduction: Serious complications can result when casts are used for bone immobilization following fracture. Adequate patient information regarding cast care and possible complications is vital for prevention. This study examines the effectiveness of verbal and written patient information regarding cast safety.

A randomised controlled trial of a self-management education program for osteoarthritis of the knee delivered by health care professionals.

Introduction: Our aim in the present study was to determine whether a disease-specific self-management program for primary care patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee (the Osteoarthritis of the Knee Self-Management Program (OAK)) implemented by health care professionals would achieve and maintain clinically meaningful improvements in health-related outcomes compared with a control group.

Methods: Medical practitioners referred 146 primary care patients with OA of the knee. Volunteers with coexistent inflammatory joint disease or serious comorbidities were excluded.

The effectiveness of pulsed electrical stimulation in the management of osteoarthritis of the knee: results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, repeated-measures trial.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of subsensory, pulsed electrical stimulation (PES) in the symptomatic management of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.

Methods: This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, repeated-measures trial in 70 participants with clinical and radiographically diagnosed OA of the knee who were randomized to either PES or placebo. The primary outcome was change in pain score over 26 weeks measured on a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS).

Targeting the glycoprotein 130 receptor subunit to control pain and inflammation.

The glycoprotein 130 (gp130) is a shared signal-transducing-membrane-associated receptor for several hematopoietic cytokines. Its activation is implicated in pain and in a variety of diseases via signaling of proinflammatory cytokines. These include interleukin-6 (IL-6) subfamily cytokines, many of which play important roles in the pathogenesis of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Castleman's disease, and Kaposi's sarcoma.

Self-management for osteoarthritis of the knee: does mode of delivery influence outcome?

Background: Self-management has become increasingly popular in the management of chronic diseases. There are many different self-management models. Meta analyses of arthritis self-management have concluded that it is difficult to recommend any one program in preference to another due to inconsistencies in the study designs used to evaluate different programs.

Precocious bilateral hip joint osteoarthritis is a "form-fruste" of the arthropathy of hereditary haemochromatosis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip joint is a common disorder, especially in aging peoples of Caucasian descent. Hip OA like OA in other joints is heterogeneous and may manifest in early or late adult life. The aetiology of early onset (precocious) bilateral hip OA is poorly understood, but the clinical and radiological characteristics of this form of OA suggest that chondral resorption due to biochemical or metabolic factors is likely to be of pre-eminent importance.

Interleukin-6 subfamily cytokines and rheumatoid arthritis: role of antagonists.

Many cytokines have been implicated in the inflammatory pathways that characterize rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and related inflammatory diseases of the joints. These include members of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) family of cytokines, several of which have been detected in excess in the synovial fluid from RA patients. What makes the IL-6 group of cytokines a family is their common use of the glycoprotein 130 (gp130) receptor subunit, to which they bind with different affinities.

Role of a LIF antagonist in LIF and OSM induced MMP-1, MMP-3, and TIMP-1 expression by primary articular chondrocytes.

Cartilage degradation is mediated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors, tissue metalloproteinases (TIMPs), which are transcriptionally regulated by a variety of growth factors and cytokines. The levels of various MMPs as well as TIMPs have been shown to increase in response to certain cytokines. These include leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and Oncostatin M (OSM), both of which have been detected in the synovial fluids of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Short and medium-term effects of an education self-management program for individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee, designed and delivered by health professionals: a quality assurance study.

Background: Self-management (SM) programs are effective for some chronic conditions, however the evidence for arthritis SM is inconclusive. The aim of this case series project was to determine whether a newly developed specific self-management program for people with osteoarthritis of the knee (OAK), implemented by health professionals could achieve and maintain clinically meaningful improvements.

Participants: 79 participants enrolled; mean age 66, with established osteoarthritis of the knee.

The effectiveness of pulsed electrical stimulation (E-PES) in the management of osteoarthritis of the knee: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is one of the main causes of musculoskeletal disability in the western world. Current available management options provide symptomatic relief (exercise and self-management, medication and surgery) but do not, in general, address the disease process itself. Moreover, adverse effects and complications with some of these interventions (medication and surgery) and the presence of co-morbidities commonly restrict their use.

Fc-based cytokines : prospects for engineering superior therapeutics.

The application of Fc (fragment crystallizable)-based cytokines (the fusion of the constant region of IgG to a cytokine of interest) as biotherapeutic agents to modulate inflammatory and immune responses has become increasingly popular in recent years. This is because in their monomeric form, cytokines are relatively small molecules with short serum half-lives, which necessitates frequent administration and thus limits their clinical utility. To rectify the problem, attempts have been made to improve the stability of these agents in vivo.

In vitro evaluation of leukemia inhibitory factor receptor antagonists as candidate therapeutics for inflammatory arthritis.

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and oncostatin M (OSM) are found in appreciable concentrations in synovial fluid from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but not osteoarthritis. Accordingly, both are potential therapeutic targets in inflammatory diseases of the joints. Several LIF antagonists have been developed.

Generation of mutant leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF)-IgG heavy chain fusion proteins as bivalent antagonists of LIF.

Two leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) mutants, designated MH35-BD and LIF05, have been shown to have a capacity to inhibit the biological activities of not only human LIF (hLIF) but also other interleukin-6 (IL-6) subfamily cytokines such as human oncostatin M (hOSM). These cytokines share the same receptor complex in which the glycoprotein 130 (gp130) subunit is a common constituent. However, at low concentrations and in their monomeric forms, such molecules have a relatively short plasma half-life due to rapid clearance from the kidneys.

Primary osteoarthritis in the ankle joint is associated with finger metacarpophalangeal osteoarthritis and the H63D mutation in the HFE gene: evidence for a hemochromatosis-like polyarticular osteoarthritis phenotype.

Background And Aim: Osteoarthritis (OA) can occur in the ankle joint. It also occurs in an appreciable proportion of subjects with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH). Might these conditions have common genetic characteristics? The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that HFE gene mutations are associated with primary osteoarthritis in the ankle joint.

HFE gene mutations are associated with osteoarthritis in the index or middle finger metacarpophalangeal joints.

Objective: . To test the hypothesis that possession of either C282Y or H63D mutations in the HFE gene is associated with primary osteoarthritis (OA) in joints commonly affected in hemochromatotic arthropathy.

Methods: HFE genotyping was performed in 87 patients with radiologically proven OA in 3 joint regions: index or middle finger metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP2,3; n = 52), elbow joints (n = 8), ankle, intertarsal or tarsometatarsal joints (ankle/IT/TMT; n = 27); and in 56 patients with radiologically proven OA in finger interphalangeal (IP) joints, but not MCP2,3 joints (IP OA control group).

Polyarticular osteoarthritis--two major phenotypes hypothesized.

Osteoarthritis is the commonest form of arthritis, at least amongst Caucasians and is frequently polyarticular. Genetic factors are now considered pivotal in the aetiopathogenesis of polyarticular osteoarthritis (POA). This document proposes a nexus between the gene most commonly mutated amongst Caucasian peoples, notably the HFE gene and an appreciable subset of POA patients who have a clinically recognisable OA phenotype.