The effect of antimalarials on the safety and persistence of treatment with biologic agents or Janus kinase inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: To test the association of use of antimalarials with the overall safety of treatment in RA patients receiving one or multiple courses of biologic (b)DMARDs or a Janus kinase inhibitor (JAKi).

Methods: BiobadaBrasil is a multicentric registry-based cohort study of Brazilian patients with rheumatic diseases starting their first bDMARD or JAKi. The present analysis includes RA patients recruited from January 2009 to October 2019, followed up over one or multiple (up to six) courses of treatment (latest date, 19 November 2019).

Assessment of muscle mass using chest computed tomography-based quantitative and qualitative measurements in patients with systemic sclerosis: A retrospective study with cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Background/ Purpose: Sarcopenia has been increasingly studied in systemic sclerosis (SSc), which is one of the most lethal autoimmune diseases, mainly due to lung involvement. Our objective was to study the associations of myopenia and/or myosteatosis with clinical features of SSc and subsequent adverse outcomes.

Methods: This is a retrospective study with cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, in which patients with SSc were consecutively included in the outpatient clinic of a tertiary university hospital between 2012 and 2021.

Changes in physical function over time in rheumatoid arthritis patients: A cohort study.

Introduction: Self-reported disability is potentially influenced by many factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this sense, we evaluated the association between self-reported disability and (1) clinical features, (2) muscle strength and (3) physical performance over time among patients with RA from two distinct patient cohorts.

Materials And Methods: Two independent prospective RA cohorts were analyzed.

Physical frailty in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic disease characterized by autoimmunity, vasculopathy and fibrosis of several organs, such as skin, lungs, and heart. During the disease course, patients with SSc are prone to accumulating multiple organ damage and increasing their vulnerability to adverse outcomes. This increased vulnerability to adverse outcomes when exposed to a stressor among people of the same age is known as frailty.

Morphological Parameters in Quadriceps Muscle Were Associated with Clinical Features and Muscle Strength of Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune, inflammatory and chronic disease that may lead to loss of muscle mass, muscle strength and decreased functionality. Our objectives are to assess the quadriceps muscle morphology by ultrasound (MU) and verify its associations with clinical features, muscle strength and physical function in RA patients.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, RA women (≥18 years) were included.