The investigation of complement factors in lupus nephritis (LN) in relation to treatment response and the impact of underlying genetics of C4.

The objective of this study was to develop an economic model to determine the annual cost of delayed axial SpA diagnosis in the UK, adopting both National Health Service (NHS) and societal perspectives.

To estimate the incidence and prevalence of Behçet's disease (BD) in Oslo, Norway from 1999 to 2021.

Professionals in health and social care are challenged by the complexity and fragmentation across primary and secondary levels of care. To study coherent rehabilitation pathways, we focused on people with inflammatory arthritis admitted to a specialised rehabilitation stay as these pathways will involve a myriad of different professionals from primary and secondary levels of care. This study aimed to explore how health and social care professionals establish coherent rehabilitation pathways for people with inflammatory arthritis across primary and secondary levels of care and how organisational factors influence on workflow.

We aimed to describe the demographics, clinical characteristics and care patterns of patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD) prior to their interstitial lung disease (ILD) diagnosis.

To evaluate whether atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease outcomes, venous thromboembolism, heart failure, and cardiovascular mortality are elevated in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) compared with a matched cohort from the general population.

The C-reactive protein (CRP)-albumin-lymphocyte (CALLY) index is a novel biomarker reflecting inflammation, nutrition, and immune status, and its potential clinical significance and prognostic role in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not been reported.

Disease activity (DA) monitoring is a standard of care in RA. There is demand for achieving this through patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). The aim of this study was to determine which items could be used to measure the construct of RA DA, by analysing legacy PROMs, using Rasch measurement theory (RMT) analyses.

Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) and dermatomyositis (DM) are characterized by weakness, hyperCKemia, associated autoantibodies, and varying extramuscular manifestations. Muscle MRI, currently subordinate to histopathology and serology in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) classification, has an evolving role. Our study aims to define thigh muscle MRI involvement in IMNM and DM by direct comparison.

Early initiation of effective treatment is associated with positive long-term prognosis for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Currently, there are no biomarkers in clinical use to predict treatment response. A predictor of treatment response may be the B-cell compartment, as this is altered in RA patients, making it a potential candidate for predicting treatment response. In this study, we sought to identify B-cell subset(s) at diagnosis that might be associated with Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) remission at 24-week follow-up.

Fatigue is a prominent symptom in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). There was a wide variety of statistics previously reported on fatigue prevalence in patients. This systematic review examined the current literature to derive the overall prevalence of fatigue and risk factors in PsA patients.

To determine SLE endotypes according to B cell immunophenotyping and serological profile and assess endotypes' response to belimumab.

This study examines the influence of pharmacological treatments on foot functionality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis over a five-year period. A longitudinal analysis categorized patients into different treatment groups, assessing their foot function using the Foot Function Index (FFI) at the start and end of the study. The groups are based on their pharmacological treatment. Pharmacological treatment groups were categorized into: I methotrexate (MTX), II MTX plus biological treatments (including all variables), III biological treatment alone, and IV a miscellaneous group comprising patients with diverse treatments, including patients for whom various drugs had failed or who had not achieved remission with pharmacological treatment. The study included 206 RA patients with an average age of 58.32 years and a disease evolution of 15.28 years. The analysis of the FFI in total and across its domains of pain, disability, and activity revealed significant differences only in the pain domain (p = 0.011), with a trend toward worsening over time observed in the other domains. Notably, MTX treatment showed improvement in the pain domain (decreasing from 45.76 in 2018 to 40.43 in 2023). Findings suggest that while pharmacological treatments are essential in managing rheumatoid arthritis, their impact on foot function is limited, with MTX demonstrating the most significant benefit in terms of pain reduction.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) involvement in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) pathogenesis is known, but the role of anti-β2glycoprotein I (aβ2GPI) antibodies-induced NETs in triggering a procoagulant and proinflammatory phenotype in endothelial cells (ECs) remains to be evaluated. This study investigated whether NET-aβ2GPI can activate ECs and whether NET-aβ2GPI and NET-phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) have different proteomic profiles.

IgA vasculitis is a predominantly pediatric autoimmune disease characterized by IgA deposit in small vessels. Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a rare hematological malignancy classified within myelodysplastic syndromes. Here, we present a previously unrecognized case of CMML associated with IgA vasculitis. A 62-year-old woman presented with necrotic and infiltrated purpura and mild arthralgia, primarily affecting the knees and wrists, without gastrointestinal or kidney involvement. A comprehensive screening for other etiologies was unremarkable. Blood tests showed an increase of monocyte count and circulating monocyte phenotyping was consistent with CMML. Bone marrow analysis showed no blast cells or karyotypic abnormalities. Genetic testing identified an NRAS mutation. Autoantibody screening and viral serologies were negative. A skin biopsy revealed small-vessel vasculitis with IgA immune deposits. CMML can be associated with autoimmune diseases, such as polyarteritis nodosa and cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis. However, this is the first report of IgA vasculitis occurring in the context of low risk CMML.

The objective of this study was to examine the clinical outcomes during the implementation of a self-administered patient decision-aid (PtDA) for lupus.

Functional antibodies play a role in SSc gastrointestinal (GI) disease, but their clinical relevance is unclear. We examined GI and extraintestinal features associated with anti-muscarinic-3 receptor (M3R) antibodies in SSc patients.