Understanding how inflammatory cytokines influence profibrogenic wound healing responses in fibroblasts is important for understanding the pathogenesis of fibrosis. TNF-α and IL-13 are key cytokines in Th1 and Th2 immune responses, respectively, while TGF-β1 is the principal pro-fibrotic mediator. We show that 12-day fibroblast culture with TNF-α or IL-13 induces fibrogenesis, marked by progressively increasing type III and VI collagen formation, and that TGF-β1 co-stimulation amplifies these effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Targeted therapies have been associated with potential risk of malignancy, which is a common concern in daily rheumatology practice in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and a history of cancer.
Objectives: To perform a systematic literature review to inform a Task Force formulating EULAR points to consider on the initiation of targeted therapies in patients with IA and a history of cancer.
Methods: Specific research questions were defined within the Task Force before formulating the exact research queries with a librarian.
Background: Potential associations between targeted therapies and a new cancer in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and a previous malignancy are a frequent concern in daily rheumatology practice.
Objectives: To develop points to consider (PTC) to assist rheumatologists when initiating a targeted therapy in the context of a previous malignancy.
Methods: Following EULAR standardised operating procedures, a task force met to define the research questions for a systematic literature review and to formulate the overarching principles (OPs) and the PTC.
Aims: Personalised medicine in chronic complex diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is within reach but requires international multi-stakeholder collaboration. We exemplify how national implementations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have introduced administrative delays and created disincentives for data sharing and collaborative research.
Methods: Our Danish/Swedish/Norwegian research collaboration (the 3-year NordForsk-funded "NORA" project) aims to develop a personalised medicine approach for the management of RA, built on the exploitation of unique existing data sources: longitudinal data from clinical rheumatology registries, research cohorts, nationwide health care registries, and biobank material from >20 sample collections.
Objectives: Early identification of interstitial lung disease (ILD) among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a challenge for clinicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate screening algorithms for ILD by comparing the proportion of patients assigned a high-risk profile by three recently proposed models.
Method: We used the four-factor risk score, categorizing patients into high and low risk; the ILD screening criteria, categorizing patients into high, intermediate, and low risk; and the risk score for detection of subclinical RA-ILD, with four different risk categories, on patients with RA followed for 5 years after the RA diagnosis with pulmonary function tests, dyspnoea score, and pulmonary imaging.