The Italian Society for Rheumatology recommendations for the management of axial spondyloarthritis.

Over the last few years, the landscape of treatments for axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) has been rapidly evolving, urging international scientific societies to draft or update existing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on the management of axial SpA. The Italian Society for Rheumatology (SIR) committed to provide revised and adapted evidence- and expert-based recommendations for the management of patients with axial SpA in Italy. A systematic approach to the adaptation of existing CPGs - the ADAPTE methodology - was adopted to obtain updated recommendations suitable for the Italian context.

CD9 and ITGA3 are regulated during HIV-1 infection in macrophages to support viral replication.

Monocytes/macrophages are important target cells for HIV-1. Here, we investigated whether HIV-1 induces changes in the macrophage gene expression profile to support viral replication. We observed that the macrophage gene expression profiles dramatically changed upon HIV-1 infection.

Updates on Clinical Trials in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Purpose Of Review: Because of the complexity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), different approaches are undertaken while investigating potential therapeutic compounds to treat the disease. The purpose of this review is to summarize the results from recent clinical trials, which investigated different compounds for treating SLE.

Recent Findings: Targeting B cells and type I interferons constitutes the major focus in recent clinical trials.

Effects of Wearing an N95 Respirator or Cloth Mask Among Adults at Peak Exercise: A Randomized Crossover Trial.

This randomized crossover trial examines the effects of wearing a cloth mask or N95 respirator vs no mask at peak exercise among healthy, active adults.

Digital pitting scars are associated with a severe disease course and death in systemic sclerosis: a study from the EUSTAR cohort.

Objective: Digital pitting scars (DPS) are frequent, but little studied in SSc to date.

Methods: An analysis of SSc patients enrolled in the EUSTAR database. Primary objectives were to (i) examine DPS prevalence; (ii) examine whether DPS are associated with digital ulcers (DUs) and active digital ischaemia (DUs or gangrene); and (iii) describe other associations with DPS including internal organ complications.

Treatment of Behçet's Disease: An Algorithmic Multidisciplinary Approach.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory, multisystem disease of unknown etiology. The disease has a wide clinical spectrum of mucocutaneous lesions and ocular, vascular, articular, neurologic, gastrointestinal and cardiac involvement. Although the number of effective drugs used in the disease's treatment has increased in recent years, BD is still associated with severe morbidity because of mainly mucocutaneous, articular and ocular symptoms and an increased mortality because of large vessel, neurological, gastrointestinal and cardiac involvement.

Representativeness of systemic sclerosis patients in interventional randomized trials: an analysis of the EUSTAR database.

Objective: To estimate the extent of and the reasons for ineligibility in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of SSc patients included in the EUSTAR database, and to determine the association between patient's features and generalizability of study results.

Methods: We searched Clinicaltrials.gov for all records on interventional SSc-RCTs registered from January 2013 to January 2018.

Effects of astaxanthin in animal models of obesity-associated diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aim: Obesity is a major risk factor for several diseases, including metabolic syndrome (MetS), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The use of natural products, such as astaxanthin (ASX), a potent antioxidant compound produced by the freshwater green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis, has gained particular interest to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, and to improve redox status, often associated with obesity. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to comprehensively examine the effects of ASX in animal models of diet induced obesity-associated diseases in order to inform the design of future human clinical studies for ASX use as supplement or nutraceutical.

Clinical phenotypes of Behçet's syndrome in a large cohort of Italian patients: focus on gender differences.

: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical phenotypes of Italian patients with Behçet's syndrome (BS) according to gender. BS is a rare chronic multisystemic disorder with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. Human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-B51, gender, and ethnicity have been suggested as factors that could influence the clinical manifestations in BS patients.

The PREdictor of MAlnutrition in Systemic Sclerosis (PREMASS) Score: A Combined Index to Predict 12 Months Onset of Malnutrition in Systemic Sclerosis.

Malnutrition is a severe complication in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) and it is associated with significant mortality. Notwithstanding, there is no defined screening or clinical pathway for patients, which is hampering effective management and limiting the opportunity for early intervention. Here we aim to identify a combined index predictive of malnutrition at 12 months using clinical data and specific serum adipokines.

Muscle Damage in Systemic Sclerosis and CXCL10: The Potential Therapeutic Role of PDE5 Inhibition.

Skeletal muscle damage is a common clinical manifestation of systemic sclerosis (SSc). C-X-C chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) is involved in myopathy and cardiomyopathy development and is associated with a more severe SSc prognosis. Interestingly, the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) sildenafil reduces CXCL10 sera levels of patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy and in cardiomyocytes.

Demographic, comorbidity, and episode of care trends in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: 2008 to 2018.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess how unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) patient demographics, comorbidities, and episode of care outcomes have changed from 2008 to 2018 in order to better understand the impact of recent changes in healthcare ideology on UKA.

Methods: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was queried to identify demographics, comorbidities, and episode of care outcomes in patients undergoing primary UKA from 2008 to 2013 (n = 3096) vs 2014-2018 (n = 9073). Trends were analyzed using Student's t-tests for continuous variables and Chi-squared tests and Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables.

Long-term Outcome of Children Born to Women with Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases: A Multicentre, Nationwide Study on 299 Randomly Selected Individuals.

The concern about the offspring's health is one of the reasons for a reduced family size of women with rheumatic diseases (RD). Increased risk of autoimmune diseases (AD) and neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) has been reported in children born to patients with RD. Within a nationwide survey about reproductive issues of women with RD, we aimed at exploring the long-term outcome of their children.

Identification of lncRNAs associated with the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis.

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the sacroiliac joint. To date, few studies have examined the association between long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and AS pathogenesis. As such, we herein sought to characterize patterns of AS-related lncRNA expression and to evaluate the potential role played by these lncRNAs in this complex autoimmune context.

Effectiveness and safety of secukinumab in 608 patients with psoriatic arthritis in real life: a 24-month prospective, multicentre study.

Objectives: To evaluate in a multicentric Italian cohort of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) on secukinumab followed for 24 months: (1) the long-term effectiveness and safety of secukinumab, (2) the drug retention rate and minimal disease activity (MDA), (3) differences in the outcomes according to the biological treatment line: biologic-naïve patients () versus multifailure () patients.

Methods: Consecutive patients with PsA receiving secukinumab were evaluated prospectively. Disease characteristics, previous/ongoing treatments, comorbidities and follow-up duration were collected.

A narrative review on characterization of acute respiratory distress syndrome in COVID-19-infected lungs using artificial intelligence.

COVID-19 has infected 77.4 million people worldwide and has caused 1.7 million fatalities as of December 21, 2020.

Targeting human plasmacytoid dendritic cells through BDCA2 prevents skin inflammation and fibrosis in a novel xenotransplant mouse model of scleroderma.

Objectives: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, such as scleroderma (SSc). However, this has been derived from indirect evidence using human samples or mouse pDC . We have developed human-specific pDC models to directly identify their role in inflammation and fibrosis, as well as attenuation of pDC function with BDCA2-targeting to determine its therapeutic application.

UCLA Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT) 2.0 Reflux Scale Correlates With Impaired Esophageal Scintigraphy Findings in Systemic Sclerosis.

Objective: The University of California Los Angeles Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract 2.0 (GIT 2.0) instrument is a self-report tool measuring gastrointestinal (GI) quality of life in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Real-world effectiveness of tofacitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective observational study.

Objectives: Tofacitinib is an approved treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but data on its use in the "real-world" are limited. We sought to analyse tofacitinib drug survival in the Israeli registry and compare it to other biologic agents.

Methods: We included RA patients treated with tofacitinib, etanercept, golimumab, tocilizumab, or abatacept between 2010-2019.

Secukinumab real world drug retention compared to TNF-alpha inhibitors in psoriatic arthritis.

Objectives: To prospectively study real-world efficacy and safety of secukinumab in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients from the Israeli registry of inflammatory diseases.

Methods: PsA patients fulfilling the CASPAR criteria were included in the analysis from 2010 to 2019. The primary endpoint was secukinumab drug retention compared to other TNF-α inhibitors (TNFi).

Integration of cardiovascular risk assessment with COVID-19 using artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), in general, refers to the machines (or computers) that mimic "cognitive" functions that we associate with our mind, such as "learning" and "solving problem". New biomarkers derived from medical imaging are being discovered and are then fused with non-imaging biomarkers (such as office, laboratory, physiological, genetic, epidemiological, and clinical-based biomarkers) in a big data framework, to develop AI systems. These systems can support risk prediction and monitoring.

The growing role of precision medicine for the treatment of autoimmune diseases; results of a systematic review of literature and Experts' Consensus.

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) share similar serological, clinical, and radiological findings, but, behind these common features, there are different pathogenic mechanisms, immune cells dysfunctions, and targeted organs. In this context, multiple lines of evidence suggest the application of precision medicine principles to AIDs to reduce the treatment failure. Precision medicine refers to the tailoring of therapeutic strategies to the individual characteristics of each patient, thus it could be a new approach for management of AIDS which considers individual variability in genes, environmental exposure, and lifestyle.