Reinisch, et al. show that filgotinib treatment has no effect on semen parameters for men with active inflammatory diseases. This contrasts with pre-clinical studies that showed fertility issues in male animals.

An increased incidence of liver diseases emphasizes greater caution in prescribing antirheumatic drugs, owing to their hepatotoxicity. However, drug-induced liver injury (DILI) in RA patients represents an aetiological and therapeutic challenge, due to the intertwining of inflammatory and metabolic elements mediated by IL-6 and TNF-α.

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Observational, nationwide cohort study finds no increased risk for cancer overall in RA patients treated with TNFis, anti-CD20 or anti-IL6.

Real-world population-based study shows that a switch to a second JAKinib results in a higher drug retention, as compared to switching to a TNFi, in patients with RA who discontinue original JAKinib therapy.

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May 2022

A Retrospective Study of the Efficacy of JAK Inhibitors or Abatacept on Rheumatoid Arthritis-Interstitial Lung Disease

Inflammopharmacology. 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1007/s10787-022-00936-w

This study of the effectiveness of JAKinibs or abatacept in patients with RA-interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) shows that treatment is related to stability or improvement of RA-ILD in over 80% of patients.

Two Phase 3 Trials of Baricitinib for Alopecia Areata

N Engl J Med. 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2110343

Phase 3 trials in patients with severe alopecia areata show that baricitinib is superior to placebo with respect to hair regrowth at 36 weeks.
Alopecia areata is characterised by nonscarring hair loss that can affect any hair-bearing site. Although mild cases of this emotionally- and psychosocially-distressing autoimmune disease may resolve within 12 months, more severe forms of the disease are unlikely to remit without treatment.

This was an exploratory post hoc analysis of pooled data, from over 2000 patients in three Phase 3 studies of tofacitinib, which demonstrates an association between tofacitinib treatment and significantly greater improvements in fatigue, sleep, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), compared with placebo.

The authors reviewed drug survival of therapies across common inflammatory skin and joint conditions from national registries.  The findings highlighted that despite the overlapping pathogenesis of these conditions there was little similarity in drug survival. This reinforces the need for an individualised treatment approach consistent with the underlying disease, patient profile and treatment history.