Publications by authors named "Willemze A"

Purpose: Hemophilia A is a rare bleeding disorder that leads to recurrent hemarthrosis, which can ultimately result in reduced mobility and poor quality of life. Qualitative exit interviews provide insights into patient perspectives and support the interpretation of quantitative trial data, such as patient-reported outcome measures. In the Phase 3 XTEND-1 study (NCT04161495) of efanesoctocog alfa in participants with severe hemophilia A, exit interviews were conducted to understand pre- and post-study experiences with pain and physical functioning and to evaluate participants' treatment experiences.

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Objective: Ultrasound (US) can detect subclinical joint-inflammation in patients with clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA), which is valuable as predictor for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) development. In most research protocols both hands and forefeet are scanned, but it is unclear if US of the forefeet has additional value for predicting RA, especially since synovial hypertrophy in MTP-joints of healthy individuals is also common. To explore the possibility to omit scanning of the forefeet we determined if US of the forefeet is of additional predictive value for RA-development in CSA patients.

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Objectives: Clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA) is an at-risk stage of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in which patients experience symptoms and physical limitations. Perceptions of CSA-patients have remained largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to map perceptions of CSA-patients and compare these to RA-patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study compares the effectiveness of baricitinib and TNF-inhibitors (TNFi) in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who did not respond to conventional treatments.
  • A total of 199 patients were randomized, showing baricitinib to be both non-inferior and superior in achieving meaningful clinical responses at 12 weeks, with a higher percentage of patients reaching specified disease activity targets compared to TNFi.
  • The results suggest that baricitinib may be a more effective initial treatment option than TNFi for RA patients who have failed previous therapies, based on the outcomes measured over 48 weeks.
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  • Obesity is a known risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but its influence during either the asymptomatic phase or the symptomatic clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA) phase is unclear.
  • A study of 1,107 symptomatic patients showed that those with CSA were more likely to be obese compared to the general population, with obesity rates significantly higher across different cohorts.
  • However, obesity did not show a significant association with the progression to inflammatory arthritis among CSA patients, suggesting that the risk from obesity may occur earlier in the RA development process.
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Introduction: Structural and chemical modifications of factor VIII (FVIII) products may influence their behaviour in FVIII activity assays. Hence, it is important to assess the performance of FVIII products in these assays. Efanesoctocog alfa is a new class of FVIII replacement therapy designed to provide both high sustained factor activity levels and prolonged plasma half-life.

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Background: Efanesoctocog alfa is a new class of factor (F) VIII replacement therapy designed to provide high sustained factor levels for longer by overcoming the von Willebrand factor half-life ceiling.

Objectives: To assess the pharmacokinetics and safety of standard half-life (octocog alfa) and extended half-life (rurioctocog alfa pegol) FVIIIs and efanesoctocog alfa.

Methods: This phase 1 study (NCT05042440; EudraCT 2021-000228-37) enrolled previously treated adult men with severe hemophilia A.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to understand how joint inflammation progresses in patients with clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA) who later develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and how it changes when CSA resolves spontaneously.
  • - Researchers analyzed MRIs from 185 CSA patients, tracking levels of inflammation in joint tissues over time to see if changes happened simultaneously or in a particular sequence.
  • - Findings revealed that in patients who progressed to RA, inflammation in different tissues increased together, with osteitis rising sharply right before RA diagnosis, while in those whose pain resolved, inflammation levels decreased in a sequential manner.
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Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are inflammatory diseases that often affect the wrist and, when affected, can lead to impaired wrist function and progressive joint destruction if inadequately treated. Standard care consists primarily of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), often supported by systemic corticosteroids or intra-articular corticosteroid injections (IACSI). IACSI, despite their use worldwide, show poor response in a substantial group of patients.

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Long-term efficacy and safety of the extended half-life recombinant factor IX Fc fusion protein (rFIXFc) has been established among previously treated patients with severe hemophilia B in 2 phase 3 trials (B-LONG [#NCT01027364] and Kids B-LONG [#NCT01440946]) and a long-term extension study (B-YOND [#NCT01425723]). In this study, we report post hoc analyses of pooled longitudinal data for up to 6.5 years for rFIXFc prophylaxis.

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Background: Efanesoctocog alfa provides high sustained factor VIII activity by overcoming the von Willebrand factor-imposed half-life ceiling. The efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of efanesoctocog alfa for prophylaxis and treatment of bleeding episodes in previously treated patients with severe hemophilia A are unclear.

Methods: We conducted a phase 3 study involving patients 12 years of age or older with severe hemophilia A.

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Efanesoctocog alfa (rFVIIIFc-VWF-XTEN; BIVV001) is a new class of factor VIII (FVIII) replacement that breaks the von Willebrand factor-imposed FVIII half-life ceiling. In a phase 1/2a study, single-dose efanesoctocog alfa was well tolerated, and no safety concerns were identified. We evaluated the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of repeat-dose efanesoctocog alfa in a phase 1 study in previously treated adults (≥150 exposure days) with severe hemophilia A.

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Introduction: Monitoring of factor IX (FIX) replacement therapy in haemophilia B relies on accurate coagulation assays. However, considerable interlaboratory variability has been reported for one-stage clotting (OSC) assays. This study aimed to evaluate the real-world, interlaboratory variability of routine FIX activity assays used in clinical haemostasis laboratories for the measurement of recombinant FIX Fc fusion protein (rFIXFc) activity.

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Background: Wnt and Wnt-associated pathways play an important role in the genetic etiology of oligodontia, a severe form of tooth agenesis. Loss-of-function mutations in LRP6 , encoding a transmembrane cell-surface protein that functions as a coreceptor in the canonical Wnt/b-catenin signaling cascade, also contribute to genetic oligodontia.

Methods And Results: We describe a three-generation family with hereditary thrombocytopenia and oligodontia.

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Background: The aim of replacement therapy in haemophilia is to improve Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) by preventing bleeding and arthropathy. However, the association of arthropathy with HRQoL is unknown.

Aim: To explore the association of haemophilic arthropathy with HRQoL.

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Objectives: To understand the molecular features distinguishing anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) from 'conventional' antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Serum of ACPA-positive RA patients was fractionated by size exclusion chromatography and analysed for the presence of ACPA-IgG by ELISA. ACPA-IgG and non-citrulline-specific IgG were affinity purified from serum, plasma and/or synovial fluid and analysed by gel electrophoresis.

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Introduction: Autoantibodies against citrullinated peptides/proteins (ACPA) are found in approximately 75% of the sera of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The RA-specific ACPA are frequently present prior to disease onset and their presence associates with a more erosive disease course. ACPA can therefore be used to aid the diagnosis and prognosis of RA.

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Objectives: The severity of joint destruction is highly variable between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The majority of its heritability is still unexplained. Several autoimmune diseases share genetic risk variants that may also influence disease progression.

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Background: Anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) are one of the best predictors for the development of rheumatoid arthritis. Nonetheless, relatively little information is present on the absolute concentration of ACPA in relation to total immunoglobulin (Ig) concentrations. Such information would be of relevance to compare ACPA levels to other antibody levels.

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease affecting around 1% of the population. Although major advances have been made in the treatment of RA, still relatively little is known on disease pathogenesis and aetiology. From treatment studies it has become clear that treating patients early in their disease course will provide the best results.

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Introduction: Fibronectin is one of the most abundant proteins present in the inflamed joint. Here, we characterized the citrullination of fibronectin in the joints of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and studied the prevalence, epitope specificity and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) association of autoantibodies against citrullinated fibronectin in RA.

Methods: Citrullinated residues in fibronectin isolated from RA patient synovial fluid were identified by mass spectrometry.

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases, and affects 0.5-1% of the population. Although it poses a considerable health problem, relatively little remains known about the disease pathogenesis and etiology.

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Introduction: The antigen recognition pattern of immunoglobulin M (IgM) could, when directed against protein antigens, provide an indication of the antigenic moieties triggering new B cells. The half-life of IgM is short and memory B cells against T-cell-dependent protein antigens typically produce IgG and not IgM antibodies. In this study, we analyzed whether a difference exists between the fine specificity of IgM versus IgG anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs).

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Introduction: Studies investigating genetic risk factors for susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) studied anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (CCP)-positive RA more frequently than anti-CCP-negative RA. One of the reasons for this is the perception that anti-CCP-negative RA may include patients that fulfilled criteria for RA but belong to a wide range of diagnoses. We aimed to evaluate the validity of this notion and explored whether clinical subphenotypes can be discerned within anti-CCP-negative RA.

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