Predictors of Interstitial Lung Disease in Mixed Connective Tissue Disease.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) frequently complicates mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and contributes to increased mortality. We aimed to identify predictors of ILD in MCTD patients. This is a nationwide, multicentre, retrospective study including patients with an adult-onset MCTD clinical diagnosis who met Sharp's, Kasukawa, Alarcón-Segovia, or Kahn's diagnostic criteria and had available chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) data.

T cells in the pathogenesis of axial spondyloarthritis.

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is the prototype of the spondyloarthritis spectrum. The involvement of T cells in its pathogenesis has long been suspected on the basis of the association with the major histocompatibility complex I molecule HLA-B27 and the pivotal role of interleukin 17 in the inflammatory mechanisms associated with the disease. Moreover, the presence of unconventional or "innate-like" T cells within the axial enthesis suggests an important role for these cells in the pathophysiology of the disease.

Innate Cells: The Alternative Source of IL-17 in Axial and Peripheral Spondyloarthritis?

Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatism characterized by inflammation of sacroiliac joints, peripheral joints, and spine. The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis Society describes three disease forms: axial (axSpA), peripheral, and enthesitic SpA. Each may be associated with extra-articular manifestations: psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, and acute anterior uveitis.

Doctor's aptitude for switching from innovator etanercept to biosimilar etanercept in inflammatory rheumatic diseases: experience from a single French rheumatology tertiary care center.

Objectives: To describe the switch to biosimilar etanercept (bETN), evaluate factors associated with this switch, and evaluate the efficacy of this switch in a real-life setting METHODS: We included patients, from October 2016 to April 2017, with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) who received innovator ETN (iETN) for at least 6 months. After receiving information on biosimilars, all physicians were invited to propose a switch from iETN to bETN. Factors associated with bETN discontinuation were explored by univariate and multivariate analyses.

Effect of Gut Involvement in Patients with High Probability of Early Spondyloarthritis: Data from the DESIR Cohort.

Objective: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a well-known extraarticular feature of spondyloarthritis (SpA). The aims of this study were to evaluate factors associated with IBD and incidence over 5 years of followup in the DESIR cohort.

Methods: DESIR is a prospective observational cohort of patients with recent-onset inflammatory back pain suggestive of axial SpA.

Increase In Il-31 Serum Levels Is Associated With Reduced Structural Damage In Early Axial Spondyloarthritis.

In spondyloarthritis, little is known about the relation between circulating cytokines and patient phenotype. We have quantified serum levels of T helper type 1 cell (Th1), Th2 and Th17 cytokines in patients with recent-onset axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) from the DESIR cohort, a prospective, multicenter French cohort consisting of 708 patients with recent-onset inflammatory back pain (duration >3 months but <3 years) suggestive of AxSpA. Serum levels of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines were assessed at baseline in patients from the DESIR cohort fulfilling the ASAS criteria (ASAS+) and were compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls.

2018 update of French Society for Rheumatology (SFR) recommendations about the everyday management of patients with spondyloarthritis.

Objective: To update French Society for Rheumatology recommendations about the management in clinical practice of patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA). SpA is considered across the range of clinical phenotypes (axial, peripheral, and entheseal) and concomitant manifestations. Psoriatic arthritis is included among the SpA phenotypes.

Evaluation of Vitamin D Status in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Its Association with Disease Activity across 15 Countries: "The COMORA Study".

The aims of this study are to evaluate vitamin D status in 1413 RA patients of COMORA study from 15 countries and to analyze relationship between patients' RA characteristics and low levels of vitamin D. All demographic, clinical, and biological data and RA comorbidities were completed. The results showed that the average of vitamin D serum dosage was 27.

Costs of early spondyloarthritis: estimates from the first 3 years of the DESIR cohort.

Objectives: To value health resource utilisation and productivity losses in DESIR, a longitudinal French cohort of 708 patients with early spondyloarthritis (SpA) enrolled between 2007 and 2010, and identify factors associated with costs in the first 3 years of follow-up.

Methods: Self-reported clinical data from DESIR and French public data were used to value health resource utilisation and productivity losses in 2013 Euros. Factors associated with costs, including and excluding biological drugs, were identified in generalised linear models using the generalised estimating equations algorithm to account for repeated observations over participants.

Comorbidities in rheumatoid arthritis.

Purpose Of Review: The aim of this study was to give an overview of recently published articles covering comorbidities in rheumatoid arthritis with a specific focus on their implications in daily practice and clinical research studies.

Recent Findings: Recent studies have confirmed the higher incidence/prevalence of some comorbidities in rheumatoid arthritis such as atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular diseases, some cancers, infections and osteoporosis. Apart from the interest in the underlying pathophysiological pathway, such studies have pointed out the impact of comorbidities on the course of the disease and also on the efficacy and tolerability of frequently used antirheumatic drugs.

Development of a multimorbidity index: Impact on quality of life using a rheumatoid arthritis cohort.

Objective: To develop a multimorbidity index (MMI) based on health-related quality of life (HRQol).

Methods: The index was developed in an observational RA cohort. In all, 40 morbidities recommended as core were identified using ICD-9 codes.

Treatment Patterns of Multimorbid Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results from an International Cross-sectional Study.

Objective: To describe the treatment profile of multimorbid patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in contrast to patients with RA only.

Methods: COMORA (Comorbidities in Rheumatoid Arthritis) is a cross-sectional, international study assessing morbidities, outcomes, and treatment of patients with RA. Patients were grouped according to their multimorbidity profile assessed by a counted multimorbidity index (cMMI).