Reproducibility of Metacarpal Bone Mineral Density Measurements Obtained by Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry in Healthy Volunteers and Patients With Early Arthritis.

Reduction in cortical bone mineral density at diaphysis of metacarpal bones of the hand, evaluated by dual X-ray radiogrammetry, has a bad prognostic value in patients with early arthritis. Nevertheless, this technique is hardly accessible in clinical practice. By contrast, evaluation of cortical bone mineral density at that location has not been previously assessed by conventional dual X-ray absorptiometry.

Rituximab induces a lasting, non-cumulative remodelling of the B-cell compartment.

Objectives: Reconstitution of B-cells after their therapeutic depletion with rituximab mimics the ontogeny of the B-cell linage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. However, little is known about the effects of multiple cycles of treatment on the repletion kinetics and their long-lasting effects on the B-cell compartment. We therefore compared the recovery capacity of the B cell subpopulations between patients who experienced their first cycle of rituximab and those who experienced successive cycles.

Experience With the Use of Rituximab for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis in a Tertiary Hospital in Spain: RITAR Study.

Background/objective: There is evidence supporting that there are no relevant clinical differences between dosing rituximab 1000 mg or 2000 mg per cycle in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in clinical trials, and low-dose cycles seem to have a better safety profile. Our objective was to describe the pattern of use of rituximab in real-life practice conditions.

Methods: Rituximab for RA in clinical practice (RITAR) study is a retrospective cohort study from 2005 to 2015.

Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies are associated with decreased bone mineral density: baseline data from a register of early arthritis patients.

Since the previous studies showed that anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) can induce osteoclasts differentiation and activation, even before arthritis onset, the aim of our study was to determine whether ACPA-positivity is associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD) at baseline visit of a register of early arthritis (EA) patients. The study population comprised 578 patients (80% females) from our EA clinic with a median disease duration, 5.1 months (p25-p75: 6-8); median age, 53.