Ultrasonographic Presentation and Anatomic Distribution of Lung Involvement in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic auto-immune disease, typically affecting the joints, which can also present with lung involvement (pleuritis, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary nodules, etc.). Lung ultrasound (LUS) is an upcoming tool in the detection of these pulmonary manifestations.

Peripheral manifestations are major determinants of disease phenotype and outcome in new onset spondyloarthritis.

Objectives: To delineate the impact of peripheral musculoskeletal manifestations on stratification of disease phenotype and outcome in new-onset spondyloarthritis (SpA), using a prospective observational nationwide inception cohort, the BelGian Inflammatory Arthritis and spoNdylitis cohorT (Be-Giant).

Methods: Newly diagnosed adult SpA patients, fulfilling the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) criteria for axial or peripheral SpA, were included in Be-Giant and prospectively followed every six months. Peripheral involvement (defined as arthritis, enthesitis and/or dactylitis) was determined in relation to clinically similar patient subsets at baseline and disease activity patterns during two-year follow-up, identified through K-means cluster analysis and latent class growth analysis.

RORγt inhibition selectively targets IL-17 producing iNKT and γδ-T cells enriched in Spondyloarthritis patients.

Dysregulated IL-23/IL-17 responses have been linked to psoriatic arthritis and other forms of spondyloarthritides (SpA). RORγt, the key Thelper17 (Th17) cell transcriptional regulator, is also expressed by subsets of innate-like T cells, including invariant natural killer T (iNKT) and γδ-T cells, but their contribution to SpA is still unclear. Here we describe the presence of particular RORγtT-betPLZF iNKT and γδ-hi T cell subsets in healthy peripheral blood.

Association of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Acute Anterior Uveitis, but Not Psoriasis, With Disease Duration in Patients With Axial Spondyloarthritis: Results From Two Belgian Nationwide Axial Spondyloarthritis Cohorts.

Objective: To determine the link between extraarticular manifestations (EAMs) and baseline characteristics in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (SpA), and to define their potentially differential prognostic value in 2 large, independent Belgian axial SpA cohorts with distinct recruitment periods.

Methods: Information on demographic and clinical characteristics and extraarticular manifestations (EAMs) was obtained from patients with axial SpA originating from the (Be)Giant (Belgian Inflammatory Arthritis and Spondylitis) cohort, which includes consecutive axial SpA patients whose data have been collected since 2010, and from the ASPECT (Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients Epidemiological Cross-sectional Trial) cohort, a Belgian registry of cross-sectional data collected between February 2004 and February 2005 from consecutive patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or probable AS.

Results: Among the 1,250 Belgian patients studied, disease duration was associated with risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with an increase in risk by 20% per 10 years of disease duration (relative risk [RR] 1.

Anti-TNF-induced remission in very early peripheral spondyloarthritis: the CRESPA study.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of golimumab to induce clinical remission in patients with very early, active peripheral spondyloarthritis (pSpA).

Methods: Clinical REmission in peripheral SPondyloArthritis is a monocentric study of golimumab treatment in patients with pSpA. All patients fulfilled the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society classification criteria for pSpA, with a symptom duration ≤12 weeks.

Dysbiosis and zonulin upregulation alter gut epithelial and vascular barriers in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Background: Dysbiosis has been recently demonstrated in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) but its implications in the modulation of intestinal immune responses have never been studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of ileal bacteria in modulating local and systemic immune responses in AS.

Methods: Ileal biopsies were obtained from 50 HLA-B27 patients with AS and 20 normal subjects.

Brief Report: Dialister as a Microbial Marker of Disease Activity in Spondyloarthritis.

Objective: Dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota has been widely established in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). There is significant clinical and genetic overlap between spondyloarthritis (SpA) and IBD, and up to 50% of all patients with SpA exhibit microscopic signs of bowel inflammation, often bearing particular resemblance to early Crohn's disease, a subtype of IBD. This study was undertaken to assess the relationship between intestinal microbial composition, gut histology, and disease activity markers in SpA.

Relevance of the gut/joint axis for the management of spondyloarthritis in daily clinical practice.

Purpose Of Review: Thirty years ago, the concept of microscopic gut inflammation in spondyloarthritis (SpA) was established. Over the past decade, there has been tremendous progress in the earlier diagnosis of SpA. In addition, it has been suggested that, because of improved hygiene over the past years, exposure to microorganisms has changed, leading to a shift in diseases, for example, a decreased incidence of reactive arthritis.

Degree of bone marrow oedema in sacroiliac joints of patients with axial spondyloarthritis is linked to gut inflammation and male sex: results from the GIANT cohort.

Introduction: Bone marrow oedema (BMO) of the sacroiliac joints (SIJs) is a hallmark of axial spondyloarthritis (SpA). However, the relationship between the extent of BMO and disease phenotype is poorly understood.

Objective: To assess the link between BMO of the SIJs and gut inflammation.