Objective: To investigate the impact of indicators of unfavorable prognosis ("poor prognostic factors") on the achievement of low disease activity (LDA)/remission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: Biologic DMARD-naïve patients with RA from three observational cohorts were examined. N = 713 patients started their 1st csDMARD, n = 1613 switched to the 2nd csDMARD and n = 388 to the 1st TNF-inhibitor.
In Germany, Tocilizumab (TCZ) is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis both in biologic-naïve patients and those with previous failures of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs). The long-term effectiveness and retention rates of TCZ in patients with different numbers of prior bDMARD failures has rarely been investigated. We included 885 RA patients in the analyses, enrolled with the start of TCZ between 2009 and 2015 in the German biologics register RABBIT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To analyze the composition of known plasmacytosis in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to obtain further insight into the nature of underlying mechanisms.
Methods: Plasmablasts from patients with active SLE, patients with inactive/treated SLE, and healthy controls were characterized by flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunospot assay, and Transwell migration assays and compared to vaccination-induced plasmablasts. Serum cytokine levels were analyzed by Luminex assay, and histologic analysis of kidney biopsy specimens was performed.