'We are all in the same boat': a qualitative cross-sectional analysis of COVID-19 pandemic imagery in scientific literature and its use for people working in the German healthcare sector.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to professional responders in healthcare settings. This is reflected in the language used to describe the pandemic in the professional literature of the respective professions. The aim of this multidisciplinary study was to analyze the linguistic imagery in the relevant professional literature and to determine the identification of different professional groups with it and its emotional effects.

Alterations in the cutaneous microbiome of patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis reveal similarities between non-lesional and lesional skin.

Objectives: To investigate the cutaneous microbiome spanning the entire psoriatic disease spectrum, and to evaluate distinguishing features of psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: Skin swabs were collected from upper and lower extremities of healthy individuals and patients with PsO and PsA. Psoriatic patients contributed both lesional (L) and contralateral non-lesional (NL) samples.

Efficacy of guselkumab, a selective IL-23 inhibitor, in Preventing Arthritis in a Multicentre Psoriasis At-Risk cohort (PAMPA): protocol of a randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled multicentre trial.

Introduction: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a complex, immune-mediated disease associated with skin psoriasis that, if left untreated, can lead to joint destruction. Up to 30% of patients with psoriasis progress to PsA. In most cases, psoriasis precedes synovio-entheseal inflammation by an average of 5-7 years, providing a unique opportunity for early and potentially preventive intervention in a susceptible and identifiable population.

Low incidence and transient elevation of autoantibodies post mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in inflammatory arthritis.

Objectives: Autoantibody seroconversion has been extensively studied in the context of COVID-19 infection but data regarding post-vaccination autoantibody production is lacking. Here we aimed to determine the incidence of common autoantibody formation following mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and in healthy controls.

Methods: Autoantibody seroconversion was measured by serum ELISA in a longitudinal cohort of IA participants and healthy controls before and after COVID-19 mRNA-based immunization.

Evaluation of Immune Response and Disease Status in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients Following SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination.

Objective: To evaluate seroreactivity and disease flares after COVID-19 vaccination in a multiethnic/multiracial cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: Ninety SLE patients and 20 healthy controls receiving a complete COVID-19 vaccine regimen were included. IgG seroreactivity to the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) and SARS-CoV-2 microneutralization were used to evaluate B cell responses; interferon-γ (IFNγ) production was measured by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay in order to assess T cell responses.

C3 glomerulonephritis and systemic lupus erythematosus: A report of a patient treated with eculizumab and review of the literature.

Introduction: Activation of the complement pathway by immune complexes is a key feature of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and SLE glomerulonephritis, which translates into low levels of C3 and C4 during active disease. C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN) is part of a broader group of rare renal diseases, the C3 glomerulopathies, characterized by prominent C3 accumulation in the glomeruli with minimal to no immunoglobulin (Ig) deposition secondary to dysregulation of the alternative pathway of the complement system. Distinguishing lupus nephritis from other complement-mediated kidney disorders, including C3GN, represents a diagnostic challenge with potential therapeutic implications.

Methotrexate hampers immunogenicity to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in immune-mediated inflammatory disease.

Objective: To investigate the humoral and cellular immune response to messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) on immunomodulatory treatment.

Methods: Established patients at New York University Langone Health with IMID (n=51) receiving the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination were assessed at baseline and after second immunisation. Healthy subjects served as controls (n=26).

Methotrexate Hampers Immunogenicity to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease.

Objective: To investigate the humoral and cellular immune response to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) on immunomodulatory treatment.

Methods: Established patients at NYU Langone Health with IMID (n=51) receiving the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination were assessed at baseline and after second immunization. Healthy subjects served as controls (n=26).

COVID-19 in Patients With Inflammatory Arthritis: A Prospective Study on the Effects of Comorbidities and Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs on Clinical Outcomes.

Objective: To characterize the hospitalization and death rates among patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to analyze the associations of comorbidities and immunomodulatory medications with infection outcomes.

Methods: Data on clinical and demographic features, maintenance treatment, disease course, and outcomes in individuals with IA (rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis) with symptomatic COVID-19 infection were prospectively assessed via web-based questionnaire followed by individual phone calls and electronic medical record review. Baseline characteristics and medication use were summarized for hospitalized and ambulatory patients, and outcomes with the different medication classes were compared using multivariable logistic regression.

The microbiome in rheumatology: Where are we and where should we go?

From birth, humans coexist and coevolve with trillions of micro-organisms inhabiting most body surfaces and cavities, referred to as the human microbiome. Advances in sequencing technologies and computational methods have propelled the exploration of the microbiome's contribution to human health and disease, spearheaded by massive efforts such as the Human Microbiome Project and the Europe-based MetaHit Consortium. Yet, despite the accumulated body of literature and a growing awareness among patients, microbiome research in rheumatology has not had a key impact on clinical practice.

Inflammatory arthritis in systemic sclerosis: What to do?

Musculoskeletal involvement, including arthritis and tendinopathy, is a common and important determinant of disability and impaired quality of life in systemic sclerosis. However, the treatment of arthritis in systemic sclerosis has not been studied as a primary outcome in randomized controlled trials, and arthritis-specific outcome measures for systemic sclerosis have not been sufficiently validated to date. Rheumatologists caring for patients with systemic sclerosis must address these complaints regularly despite the fact that the level of evidence for the treatment of systemic sclerosis-related inflammatory arthritis is limited.

"How did you feel?": increasing child sexual abuse witnesses' production of evaluative information.

In child sexual abuse cases, the victim's testimony is essential, because the victim and the perpetrator tend to be the only eyewitnesses to the crime. A potentially important component of an abuse report is the child's subjective reactions to the abuse. Attorneys may ask suggestive questions or avoid questioning children about their reactions, assuming that children, given their immaturity and reluctance, are incapable of articulation.

Decrease of Foxp3+ Treg cell number and acquisition of effector cell phenotype during lethal infection.

Using a model of lethal oral infection with Toxoplasma gondii, we examined the fate of both induced and natural regulatory T (Treg) cells in the face of strong inflammatory responses occurring in a tolerogenic-prone environment. We found that during highly T helper 1 (Th1) cell-polarized mucosal immune responses, Treg cell numbers collapsed via multiple pathways, including blockade of Treg cell induction and disruption of endogenous Treg cell homeostasis. In particular, shutdown of interleukin 2 (IL-2) in the highly Th1 cell-polarized environment triggered by infection directly contributes to Treg cell incapacity to suppress effector responses and eventually leads to immunopathogenesis.

Commensal DNA limits regulatory T cell conversion and is a natural adjuvant of intestinal immune responses.

The intestinal tract is in intimate contact with the commensal microflora. Nevertheless, how commensals communicate with cells to ensure immune homeostasis is still unclear. In this study, we found that gut flora DNA (gfDNA) plays a major role in intestinal homeostasis through Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) engagement.

Improving the safety net for single mothers who face serious barriers to work.

Rebecca Blank explores a weakness of the welfare reforms of the mid-1990s--the failure of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program to address the plight of so-called "hard to employ" single mothers and their children. TANF has moved many women on the welfare caseload into work, but the services it provides are not intensive or flexible enough to meet the needs of women with multiple disadvantages who find it difficult to get and keep full-time employment. Blank notes that many of these women have lost welfare benefits because of their failure to find work.

Small intestine lamina propria dendritic cells promote de novo generation of Foxp3 T reg cells via retinoic acid.

To maintain immune homeostasis, the intestinal immune system has evolved redundant regulatory strategies. In this regard, the gut is home to a large number of regulatory T (T reg) cells, including the Foxp3(+) T reg cell. Therefore, we hypothesized that the gut environment preferentially supports extrathymic T reg cell development.

Interleukin-2 signaling via STAT5 constrains T helper 17 cell generation.

Recent work has identified a new subset of effector T cells that produces interleukin (IL)-17 known as T helper 17 (Th17) cells, which is involved in the pathophysiology of inflammatory diseases and is thought to be developmentally related to regulatory T (Treg) cells. Because of its importance for Treg cells, we examined the role of IL-2 in Th17 generation and demonstrate that a previously unrecognized aspect of IL-2 function is to constrain IL-17 production. Genetic deletion or antibody blockade of IL-2 promoted differentiation of the Th17 cell subset.