Rheumatology

OBJECTIVES: To describe outcomes of patients with early RA in a patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) at treatment initiation and to identify clusters of symptoms associated with poor outcomes. METHODS: Data came from the Rheumatoid Arthritis Medication Study, a UK multicentre cohort study of RA patients starting MTX. The HAQ, DAS28 and other patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) were collected at baseline, and at 6 and 12 months. Patients answering yes to the question 'Is your current condition satisfactory, when you take your general functioning and your current pain into consideration?' were defined as PASS; patients answering no were defined as N-PASS...

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OBJECTIVES: aCL and anti-β2 glycoprotein I antibody (aβ2GPI) are autoantibodies associated with thromboembolic diseases. Here we investigated whether they are correlated with ischaemic cardiovascular disease in a Chinese population. METHODS: Serum total aCL and aβ2GPI isotypes (IgA, IgG or IgM, separately) were measured in 11 015 Chinese adults. Differences of antibody level between disease and non-disease groups were examined by t-test. The correlation between antibody and ischaemic cardiovascular disease was determined by logistic regression analysis...

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) Vascular CAM 1 (VCAM-1) and Activated Leucocyte CAM (ALCAM) as urinary biomarkers in SLE patients with and without renal involvement. METHODS: Female SLE patients (n = 111) and non-SLE population-based controls (n = 99) were enrolled. We measured renal activity using the renal domain of the BILAG index and urine (U) and plasma (P) concentrations of soluble (s)VCAM 1 and U-sALCAM using ELISA. U-sCAM levels were next corrected by U-creatinine...

OBJECTIVE: In early RA, some patients exhibit rapid radiographic progression (RRP) after one year, associated with poor functional prognosis. Matrices predicting this risk have been proposed, lacking precision or inadequately calibrated. We developed a matrix to predict RRP with high precision and adequate calibration. METHODS: Post-hoc analysis by pooling individual data from cohorts (ESPOIR and Leuven cohorts) and clinical trials (ASPIRE, BeSt and SWEFOT trials)...

OBJECTIVE: To identify different trajectories of disease activity in patients with RA following initiation of a first anti-TNF. METHODS: Patients with RA starting their first anti-TNF between 2001 and 2013 were selected from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register for RA. Six-monthly DAS28-ESR scores were used to identify trajectories of disease activity using latent class modelling. Data were included for six follow-ups after registration (approximately 3 years)...

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the telomere length (TL) in patients with RA relative to that in controls and to test whether TL is causally associated with risk of RA. METHODS: Systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant literature was conducted to evaluate the association between TL and RA. Standardized mean differences with 95% CIs of TL in RA patients relative to controls were pooled using fixed or random-effects models. TL-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms were selected from a genome-wide association study of 37 684 individuals, and summary statistics of RA were obtained from a genome-wide association study meta-analysis including 14 361 RA patients and 43 923 controls...

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OBJECTIVE: Using a novel isotemporal substitution paradigm, this study aimed to estimate the cross-sectional associations of objectively measured sedentary behaviour and physical activity (PA) with cardiovascular risk factors among patients with SLE. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of adult SLE patients without documented cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular risk factors were measured, including BMI, blood pressure, fasting glucose and lipid profile...

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OBJECTIVES: Recently, we demonstrated that early low concentrations of circulating, adalimumab-bound TNF in RA patients treated with adalimumab was associated with future anti-drug antibody formation. Furthermore, low TNF was associated with less frequent baseline MTX use. This is remarkable, because of the anti-inflammatory effects of MTX and a potential inhibiting effect on cytokine production. We hypothesized an indirect effect of non-MTX use on low TNF concentrations via immunogenicity...

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OBJECTIVES: AS is known to be a highly heritable disease, but previous studies on the magnitude of the familial aggregation and heritability of AS have been small and inconclusive, with familial relative risks ranging from 17 to 94. We aimed to improve estimates of these factors by studying families of all subjects diagnosed with AS in Sweden over a period of 16 years and to investigate if familial risks vary by sex or type of relative. METHODS: In a nested case-control study, we identified AS index patients from the National Patient Register (NPR) and the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register (SRQ) between 2001 and 2016...

OBJECTIVES: Racial factors play a significant role in SSc. We evaluated differences in SSc presentations between white patients (WP), Asian patients (AP) and black patients (BP) and analysed the effects of geographical locations. METHODS: SSc characteristics of patients from the EUSTAR cohort were cross-sectionally compared across racial groups using survival and multiple logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The study included 9162 WP, 341 AP and 181 BP...

OBJECTIVE: Lumbosacral transitional vertebras (LSTVs) are common in the general population, but their potential impact on the sacroiliac joints is unclear. We aimed to determine the prevalence of LSTVs and to assess their associations with sacroiliitis by standard radiography and MRI in a population with suspected axial spondyloarthritis. METHODS: The data were from the DESIR cohort of 688 patients aged 18-50 years with inflammatory low back pain for ⩾3 months but <3 years suggesting axial spondyloarthritis...

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