Confirmatory factor analysis of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the factor structure of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The sample included 107 patients with RA, 88 females and seven males, with an average age of 56.09 years, recruited from the greater Southern California area.

Predictors of preterm birth in patients with mild systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: While increased disease activity is the best predictor of preterm birth in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), even women with low disease activity are at increased risk of this complication. Biomarkers that would identify at-risk pregnancies could allow interventions to prevent preterm birth.

Method: Measures of SLE activity, inflammation, placental health and renal function between 20 and 28 weeks gestation (mid-gestation) were correlated to preterm birth and gestational age at delivery in a prospective cohort of pregnant women with SLE.

Markers of intestinal inflammation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a pilot study.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are similar chronic inflammatory diseases whose definitive etiology is unknown. Following recent clinical and genetic evidence supporting an intertwined pathogenic relationship, we conducted a pilot study to measure fecal calprotectin (fCAL) and IBD-related serologies in AS patients.

Methods: Consecutive AS patients were recruited from a long-term prospectively collected longitudinal AS cohort at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Functional limitations due to axial and peripheral joint impairments in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: are focused measures more informative?

Objective: Functional limitations in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) may be due to peripheral joint or axial involvement. To determine if the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), an axial-focused measure, can detect limitations related to peripheral joint involvement equally as well as the Health Assessment Questionnaire modified for the spondyloarthropathies (HAQ-S), a peripheral arthritis-focused measure, and vice versa, we compared associations of each questionnaire with spinal and hip range of motion, peripheral arthritis, and enthesitis in patients with AS.

Methods: We examined patients every 4-6 months in this prospective longitudinal study.

Inflammatory back pain: the United States perspective.

Inflammatory back pain (IBP) is a relatively recent and well-accepted concept whose precise definition remains elusive. The definition of IBP varies by criteria set, as does its sensitivity and specificity regarding screening and case ascertainment in various clinical or epidemiologic settings. This article reviews the history of efforts to define IBP, particularly the criteria sets that have been built around its measurement, describes assessment of IBP in the clinical setting, and illustrates how IBP has been used in epidemiologic and clinical research.

Rilonacept for colchicine-resistant or -intolerant familial Mediterranean fever: a randomized trial.

Background: Currently, there is no proven alternative therapy for patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) that is resistant to or intolerant of colchicine. Interleukin-1 is a key proinflammatory cytokine in FMF.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of rilonacept, an interleukin-1 decoy receptor, in treating patients with colchicine-resistant or -intolerant FMF.

Cost effectiveness of different treatment strategies in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis in china.

Background: To analyse the cost-effectiveness of traditional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (tDMARDs) compared to biological therapies from the perspective of Chinese society.

Methodology/principal Findings: A mathematical model was developed by incorporating the clinical trial data and Chinese unit costs and treatment sequences from a lifetime perspective. Hypothetical cohorts with moderate to severe RA were simulated.

Regional radiographic damage and functional limitations in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: differences in early and late disease.

Objective: Both radiographic damage and functional limitations increase with the duration of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). We examined whether radiographic damage contributed more to functional limitations in late AS than in early AS, and if the strength of association varied with the anatomic region of damage.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study of 801 patients with AS, we examined associations of the lumbar modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS), the cervical mSASSS, lumbar posterior fusion, cervical posterior fusion, and hip arthritis with the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire modified for the spondyloarthritides (HAQ-S).

Multiple Autoantibodies Display Association with Lymphopenia, Proteinuria, and Cellular Casts in a Large, Ethnically Diverse SLE Patient Cohort.

Purpose. This study evaluates high-throughput autoantibody screening and determines associated systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) clinical features in a large lupus cohort. Methods.

Multiple cytokines and chemokines are associated with rheumatoid arthritis-related autoimmunity in first-degree relatives without rheumatoid arthritis: Studies of the Aetiology of Rheumatoid Arthritis (SERA).

Objective: We investigated whether rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related autoantibodies were associated with systemic inflammation in a prospective cohort of first-degree relatives (FDRs) of RA probands, a population without RA but at increased risk for its future development.

Methods: We studied 44 autoantibody positive FDRs, of whom 29 were rheumatoid factor (RF) positive, 25 were positive for the high risk autoantibody profile (HRP), that is, positive for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide and/or for at least two RF IgM, IgG or IgA isotypes, and nine FDRs who were positive for both; and 62 FDRs who were never autoantibody positive. Twenty-five cytokines/chemokines were measured using a bead-based assay in serum.

New insights into mechanisms of therapeutic effects of antimalarial agents in SLE.

Antimalarial agents have routinely been used for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) for over 50 years. These agents continue to enjoy success as the initial pharmacotherapy for SLE even in the era of targeted therapies. Antimalarial agents have numerous biological effects that are responsible for their immunomodulatory actions in SLE.

The prevalence of inflammatory back pain: population-based estimates from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009-10.

Objective: To estimate the current US inflammatory back pain (IBP) prevalence using four published case definitions.

Methods: Analysis of an IBP data collection instrument specifically designed for the 2009-10 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Subjects were 5103 US adults ages 20-69 with complete data.

Porphyromonas gingivalis and disease-related autoantibodies in individuals at increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To examine the relationship of Porphyromonas gingivalis to the presence of autoantibodies in individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Study participants included the following: 1) a cohort enriched in subjects with HLA-DR4 and 2) subjects at risk of RA by virtue of having a first-degree relative with RA. None of the study subjects satisfied the American College of Rheumatology 1987 classification criteria for RA.

A multidimensional model of fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To evaluate a multidimensional model testing disease activity, mood disturbance, and poor sleep quality as determinants of fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Method: The data of 106 participants were drawn from baseline of a randomized comparative efficacy trial of psychosocial interventions for RA. Sets of reliable and valid measures were used to represent model constructs.

Derivation and validation of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: The Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) group revised and validated the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) classification criteria in order to improve clinical relevance, meet stringent methodology requirements, and incorporate new knowledge regarding the immunology of SLE.

Methods: The classification criteria were derived from a set of 702 expert-rated patient scenarios. Recursive partitioning was used to derive an initial rule that was simplified and refined based on SLICC physician consensus.

New insights into the role and mechanism of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in steroid-resistant patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Introduction: Glucocorticoid (GC) therapy remains important in improving the prognosis of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, some patients do not achieve an effective response with GC treatment, creating an obstacle to the remission of SLE. Identification of the underlying mechanisms responsible for steroid resistance can be significant.

Correlates and predictors of disability in vulnerable US Hispanics with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: US Hispanics with rheumatoid arthritis experience worse functional outcomes compared to whites. The determinants of disability, however, are not well established in large Hispanic cohorts. In the present report, we identified factors associated with disability in a cross-sectional design, and evaluated their individual contributions to disability over time.

Disease-specific patient reported outcome tools for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Purpose: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can significantly affect both health and non-health-related quality of life (HRQOL and non-HRQOL). However, of the existent published patient-reported outcome (PRO) tools, none were developed from US patients, an ethnically diverse population. Furthermore, these tools do not address men with SLE or assess non-HRQOL issues.