August 2022

Incident and Recurrent Herpes Zoster for First-Line bDMARD and tsDMARD Users in Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Arthritis Res Ther. 2022;24(1):180

Herpes zoster (HZ) risk is significantly increased in seropositive RA patients with a history of HZ after the initiation of bDMARDs or tsDMARD. It is now well known that the incidence and recurrence of HZ are quite common in patients with RA in real-world clinical settings, yet there is limited evidence regarding bDMARD-dependent HZ risk among patients with a history of HZ prior to bDMARD use.

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July 2022

Effect of bimekizumab on symptoms and impact of disease in patients with psoriatic arthritis over 3 years: results from BE ACTIVE

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2022 doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac353

Here bimekizumab was associated with long-term reductions in disease activity and disease impact on patients with PsA. This investigation set out to evaluate the long-term effects of bimekizumab treatment on the key symptoms of PsA and the resulting impact on patient function and HRQoL.

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June 2022

Effect of Tofacitinib on Pain, Fatigue, Health-related Quality of Life and Work Productivity in Patients with Active Ankylosing Spondylitis: Results from A Phase III, Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial

RMD Open 2022 doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002253

Navarro-Compán et al, determined the effectiveness of tofacitinib in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis in a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

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Effect of Secukinumab on Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Inflammatory Biomarkers: Post Hoc Analyses of Pooled Data Across Three Indications

Rheumatol Ther 2022 Jun;9(3):935-955. Doi: 10.1007/s40744-022-00434-z

Merola et al., reported the effect of interleukin (IL)-17A inhibition with secukinumab on cardiovascular (CV) risk parameters in patients with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) over 1 year of treatment. This study evaluated data from 19 secukinumab related clinical trials in phase 3/4 in psoriasis, PsA, and axSpA.

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Filgotinib Decreases Both Vertebral Body and Posterolateral Spine Inflammation in Ankylosing Spondylitis: Results from The TORTUGA Trial

Rheumatology 2022;61:2388–2397. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab758

Maksymowych et al., assessed the effects of filgotinib on inflammatory and structural changes at various spinal locations, based on MRI measures in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis in the TORTUGA trial. Correlations between changes in the inflammation score and clinical outcomes were also evaluated.

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Efficacy and Safety of Selective TYK2 Inhibitor, Deucravacitinib, in a Phase II Trial in Psoriatic Arthritis

Ann Rheum Dis. 2022 doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221664

In this study Mease, et al. aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of deucravacitinib in patients with active PsA. Treatment with the selective TYK2i deucravacitinib was well tolerated and resulted in greater improvements than placebo in ACR-20 as well as Multiplicity-controlled secondary endpoints and other exploratory efficacy measures in patients.

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Persistence and Effectiveness of the IL-12/23 Pathway Inhibitor Ustekinumab or Tumour Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Treatment in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis: 1-year Results From the Real-world PsABio Study

Ann Rheum Dis 2022 doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221640

Many RCTs have demonstrated efficacy and safety of biologics in PsA. However, long term comparative real world data is lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the real-world effectiveness and persistence of the IL-12/23 inhibitor ustekinumab or a TNFi for PsA 1 year post initiation. As a result, they found that PS-adjusted comparisons demonstrated comparable overall persistence, effectiveness and safety for both modes of action in PsA.

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Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with conventional, targeted and biological disease‑modifying antirheumatic drugs in the setting of liver injury and non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease

Rheumatol Int. 2022 doi: 10.1007/s00296-022-05143-y

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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Impact of filgotinib on sacroiliac joint magnetic resonance imaging structural lesions at 12 weeks in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (TORTUGA trial)

Rheumatology 2022;61:2063–71 doi:10.1093/rheumatology/keab543

Maksymowych et al., carried out a post-hoc analysis to assess the effect of filgotinib on MRI measures of structural change in the SI joint in patients with active AS in the TORTUGA trial. This study evaluated lesions using SPARCC SSS definitions for erosion, backfill, fat metaplasia and ankylosis by two independent scoring readers.

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