Rheumatology

Women with active rheumatoid arthritis who receive pregnancy counseling are as likely to breastfeed their children as women in the general population, indicate findings from the Preconceptional Counselling in Active Rheumatoid Arthritis study.

A tapering treat-to-target strategy can lead to a large reduction in TNF inhibitor dose without impacting disease control in people with psoriatic arthritis or axial spondyloarthritis, study findings indicate.

Low glucocorticoid doses are not associated with reduced bone mineral density in people with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, observational study findings indicate.

Research has revealed factors associated with complete remission in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, including lack of renal involvement and antiphospholipid syndrome, White ethnicity, and older age at diagnosis.

Findings from an observational study suggest that walking for exercise is associated with a reduced risk for developing frequent knee pain among people aged 50 years and older with knee osteoarthritis.

Older people with rheumatoid arthritis are not at increased risk for hospitalization with infection when receiving targeted therapy with biologics or JAK inhibitors rather than methotrexate, Japanese researchers report.

People with systemic lupus erythematosus are more likely to have autoantibodies against post-translationally modified proteins than healthy controls, and these antibodies are associated with neuropsychiatric manifestations, researchers report in RMD Open.

This independent news story was supported by an educational grant from L’Institut Servier, Suresnes, France.

Findings from the MIRACLE study indicate that patients with rheumatoid arthritis and inadequate response to methotrexate who receive a reduced dose of methotrexate at adalimumab initiation have comparable remission outcomes to those given the maximum tolerable dose, and may have fewer adverse events.

Research presented at the EULAR 2022 Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, suggests that maternal and fetal morbidity remain high among pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus, despite reductions in mortality in recent decades.

Ten-year results from the GESPIC study support the use of NSAIDs for reducing radiographic spinal progression in patients with axial spondyloarthritis and suggest a stronger effect with cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitors than non-selective NSAIDs.

Study findings support a move to assess cardiovascular risk and monitor for malignancies in patients with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis taking the Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib.

Analysis of data from the NORD-STAR study suggests that people with early rheumatoid arthritis have increased levels of coagulation biomarkers, putting them at increased risk for venous thromboembolism, and initial treatment with DMARDs can help reduce this imbalance.

The phase 2 PAISLEY study suggests that the tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor deucravacitinib may be a promising novel therapeutic option for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Phase 3 SAPHYR study findings suggest that the IL-6 receptor inhibitor sarilumab with glucocorticoid taper is an efficacious treatment option for patients with steroid-resistant polymyalgia rheumatica.

Bimekizumab has shown positive efficacy and safety results in the BE COMPLETE and BE OPTIMAL phase 3 psoriatic arthritis trials.

Pausing methotrexate only after the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine may provide the best balance between antibody response and risk for flare, findings from two randomized controlled trials suggest.

Two real-world studies looking at the risk for major cardiovascular events with JAK inhibitors versus TNF inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis show contradicting outcomes.

At the EULAR 2022 Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, two experts debated whether COVID-19 will have a lasting effect on rheumatology clinical practice.

Findings from the GLORIA trial suggest that older patients with established rheumatoid arthritis could benefit from 2 years of low-dose glucocorticoids in addition to their existing disease-modifying treatment with a favorable balance of benefit and harm.

The tumor necrosis factor inhibitor adalimumab does not improve pain or function in people with knee osteoarthritis, indicate phase 2 trial results.