Effectiveness of Baricitinib in Refractory Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis and Uveitis: A Case Report

Baricitinib is a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor used to treat refractory rheumatoid arthritis and blocks the subtypes JAK1 and JAK2. A 35-year-old man with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis complicated by bilateral severe non-granulomatous panuveitis was resistant to steroid treatment, multiple conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (methotrexate and salazosulfapyridine), and TNF-α inhibitors (adalimumab and infliximab). Therefore, the TNF-α inhibitors were switched to baricitinib to decrease the activity of systemic arthritis. Along with the amelioration of inflammatory activity in seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, the inflammatory activity of uveitis was decreased. Vitreous opacity, serous retinal detachment, and anterior chamber cells showed improvement. Baricitinib was effective not only in refractory systemic arthritis but also in uveitis, which may provide a new treatment option for patients with refractory uveitis.

Use of protocol-driven medication refills by pharmacists decreases rheumatologist in-basket work and improves rheumatologist satisfaction

Burn-out among US physicians has been on the rise in the past few decades. Similarly, rheumatologists in the Geisinger Health System have experienced professional dissatisfaction through significant administrative burden and in-basket work. We embedded pharmacists into our rheumatology team in 2019 with the aim of reallocating medication refills to pharmacists, trained professionals in this domain, to help reduce physician workload and burn-out and increase satisfaction. Protocol-driven medication refill parameters per the American College of Rheumatology guidelines and new refill workflows for disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and non-DMARDs were created for use by our rheumatology pharmacists. Monthly data on medication refill volume and time saved for rheumatologists were collected from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2021. Statistical analysis was completed via Shewhart p-charts. The volume of refills by rheumatologists decreased by 73% and the time saved per month for all the rheumatologists increased to 41.5 hours within 6 months. Physicians’ feedback was obtained via anonymous electronic surveys preintervention and postintervention. The statistical difference between the presurveys and postsurveys was calculated via two-tailed unpaired t-testing. It demonstrated reduced burn-out and improved workplace satisfaction. This study showed that the integration of rheumatology pharmacists into our practice can help improve the work life of the rheumatologists. It is important for physicians’ well-being to practice at the top of their scope and achieve work–life balance.

Safety of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: results from the EULAR Coronavirus Vaccine (COVAX) physician-reported registry

ObjectivesTo describe the safety of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in people with inflammatory/autoimmune rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (I-RMD).MethodsPhysician-reported registry of I-RMD and non-inflammatory RMD (NI-RMDs) patients vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. From 5 February 2021 to 27 July 2021, we collected data on demographics, vaccination, RMD diagnosis, disease activity, immunomodulatory/immunosuppressive treatments, flares, adverse events (AEs) and SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections. Data were analysed descriptively.ResultsThe study included 5121 participants from 30 countries, 90% with I-RMDs (n=4604, 68% female, mean age 60.5 years) and 10% with NI-RMDs (n=517, 77% female, mean age 71.4). Inflammatory joint diseases (58%), connective tissue diseases (18%) and vasculitis (12%) were the most frequent diagnostic groups; 54% received conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), 42% biological DMARDs and 35% immunosuppressants. Most patients received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (70%), 17% AstraZeneca/Oxford and 8% Moderna. In fully vaccinated cases, breakthrough infections were reported in 0.7% of I-RMD patients and 1.1% of NI-RMD patients. I-RMD flares were reported in 4.4% of cases (0.6% severe), 1.5% resulting in medication changes. AEs were reported in 37% of cases (37% I-RMD, 40% NI-RMD), serious AEs in 0.5% (0.4% I-RMD, 1.9% NI-RMD).ConclusionThe safety profiles of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in patients with I-RMD was reassuring and comparable with patients with NI-RMDs. The majority of patients tolerated their vaccination well with rare reports of I-RMD flare and very rare reports of serious AEs. These findings should provide reassurance to rheumatologists and vaccine recipients and promote confidence in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine safety in I-RMD patients.

Association between Carotid Intima-Media Thickness and the Use of Biological or Small Molecule Therapies in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the association of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), and also the presence of atheromatous plaque, with biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, in an established cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study based on a cohort of patients with RA and a registry of healthy controls, in whom the CIMT and presence of atheromatous plaque were assessed by ultrasound. Data were collected on disease activity, lab results and treatments. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed and two multivariate linear regression models (with CIMT as the dependent variable) were constructed to identify variables independently associated with CIMT in our sample of patients with RA. Results: A total of 176 individuals (146 patients with RA and 30 controls) were included. A higher percentage of patients than controls had atheromatous plaque (33.8% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.036), but no differences were found in terms of CIMT (0.64 vs. 0.61, p = 0.444). Compared to values in patients on other therapies, the CIMT was smaller among patients on tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) inhibitors (mean [SD]: 0.58 [0.10] vs. 0.65 [0.19]; p = 0.013) and among those on Janus kinase inhibitors (mean [SD]: 0.52 [0.02] vs. 0.64 [0.18]; p < 0.001), while no differences were found as a function of the use of the other therapies considered. The multivariate linear regression analysis to identify factors associated with CIMT in our patients, adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, high levels of low-density lipoproteins, diabetes mellitus and smoking, showed that male sex, older age and having a greater cumulative erythrocyte sedimentation rate were independently associated with a larger CIMT, while patients on TNFα inhibitors had a CIMT 0.075 mm smaller than those on other treatments. Conclusions: The use of TNFα inhibitors may protect against subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with RA, patients on this biologic having smaller CIMTs than patients on other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Nonetheless, these results should be confirmed in prospective studies with larger sample sizes.

Incidence and factors related to SARS-CoV-2 infection in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Colombia during the COVID-19 pandemic v1

Introduction:Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection due to intrinsic characteristics of the pathology and the medications used to treat it. Objective: To evaluate the incidence of and factors related to SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with RA in Colombia. Materials and methods: This was an observational study of patients diagnosed with RA who were treated at a health care institution in Colombia. The study evaluated whether the patients presented SARS-CoV-2 infection and other clinical variables. Variables associated with the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection were identified. Results: A total of 2,566 patients with RA were identified. They had a median age of 61.9 years, and 81.1% were women. They were mainly treated with synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) (85.3%), glucocorticoids (52.2%) and biological DMARDs (26.8%). The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 5.1%, and the factors that increased the risk included treatment with synthetic DMARDs with or without biological DMARDs but with concomitant systemic glucocorticoids (OR: 2.18, 95% CI: 1.21-3.93 and OR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.05-2.74, respectively) and receiving antidiabetic drugs (OR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.27-3.94). A total of 20.8% of patients with COVID-19 required hospitalization, and 3.8% died. Conclusions: The incidence of COVID-19 is higher among patients with RA who receive DMARDs and glucocorticoids simultaneously or who have diabetes mellitus than among RA patients not receiving these drug combinations, which should guide treatment strategies.

Objective assessment of the damaging effect of glucocorticoids (toxicity index) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem disease characterized by chronic inflammation and damage to vital organs and systems. Despite the great success achieved in the treatment of SLE, glucocorticoids (GC) remain one of the main methods of therapy. The GC toxicity index is an objective method for assessing adverse events associated with their use, and in future studies can be actively used to monitor the safety of various therapy regimens. Wider introduction of this index in the management of patients with SLE will allow to optimize approaches to the selection of GC doses, to consider earlier prescription of biologic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, before the development of severe irreversible damage.

Biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in the treatment of major monogenic autoinflammatory diseases: literature review and clinical observation

Autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) are a heterogeneous group of rare genetically determined conditions, the main manifestations of which are episodes of fever in combination with other signs of systemic inflammation: skin rashes, musculoskeletal and neurological disorders, damage to the organs of vision, hearing, etc., as well as acute phase markers and the absence of autoantibodies. The use of biological therapy, especially inhibitors of interleukin 1 (iIL1), in most common monogenic AIDs (mAID) – FMF, TRAPS, HIDS/MKD, CAPS – has shown its high efficiency and led to significant progress in the treatment of these patients. Currently, iIL1 are the first-line drugs for mAIDs therapy, primarily CAPS. In the case of their ineffectiveness or intolerance in certain situations, other biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs can also be used – inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor α and iIL6, but this issue needs further investigation. The article describes a patient with mAID, in whom the diagnosis was made more than 40 years after the onset; administration of targeted therapy even in the late stages of the disease led to a significant improvement in many symptoms and quality of life.

Comparison of clinical manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis in patients with moderate or high disease activity depending on the presence or absence of symptoms of neuropathic pain

Objective: to study the effect of neuropathic pain symptoms (SNP) on the clinical manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients with moderate or high disease activity.Patients and methods. The 1st (main) group included 58 RA patients (84.5% of women, age 53.0±11.9 years), in whom SNP were identified using the DN4 (≥4) and PainDETECT (≥13) questionnaires. The 2nd (control) group included 43 patients with RA (79.1% women, age 48.8±14.4 years) who did not have SNP (DN4 ≤4 and PainDETECT ≤13). All patients received disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (mainly methotrexate and leflunomide), 20% – biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. We compared groups 1 and 2 for RA activity (DAS28, CDAI, SDAI), pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS, 0–100 mm), functional impairment (HAQ), patient global assessment (PGA, VAS), number of painful and swollen joints, quality of life (EQ-5D), signs of anxiety and depression (HADS), CRP level.Results and discussion. The RA activity in patients of the 1st and 2nd groups did not differ statistically significantly. Patients of the 1st group showed significantly higher indicators of the severity of pain, PGA and anxiety than patients of the control group: 71.0±12.5 and 54.7±17.5 mm, respectively (p<0.001); 61.0±13.1 and 53.7±15.3 mm (p=0.045); 62.1 and 28.6% (HADS ≥7; p<0.001), respectively.Conclusion. SNP are associated with higher rates of pain intensity, PGA, and anxiety in RA patients with moderate to high disease activity.

Current issues in the management of patients with HIV infection and rheumatic diseases

According to experts, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic has a steady downward trend, but the attention of the medical community to this problem is not waning. Before the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy, the prevalence of rheumatic manifestations in HIV-infected patients ranged from 3 to 71% and was associated with late stages of infection and severe immunosuppression. HIV-associated arthritis, reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, arthralgias and diffuse infiltrative lymphocytosis syndrome are the most common rheumatic pathologies in HIV. Most people with HIV and musculoskeletal inflammatory disease respond well to NSAIDs, opioids, and basic anti-inflammatory drugs. In cases that are torpid to the abovementioned treatment, the use of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs may be required.The lecture summarizes modern data on the features of the course and treatment of immunoinflammatory rheumatic diseases in HIV infection.

Periodontitis Severity Affects the Clinical Response to Biological Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A 1-Year Follow-up Study

ABSTRACT Objectives To assess whether periodontitis severity affects the clinical response to biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) for 1 year in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Methods Data were collected from 50 RA patients who had received corticosteroids, conventional synthetic DMARDs, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs before (baseline) and after 1 year of bDMARD therapy in a retrospective study. Rheumatologic conditions were compared between the two periodontitis severity groups according to the periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA) or Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC)/ American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) case definitions Results Twenty-eight patients with no or mild periodontitis showed significantly greater decreases in changes in Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and tender and swollen joint count in comparison to 22 patients with moderate and severe periodontitis (p = 0.02, p = 0.01, and p = 0.03). Both bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed a significantly positive association between the baseline CDC/AAP definitions and CDAI changes (p = 0.005 and p = 0.0038). However, rheumatologic conditions were comparable between 25 patients each in the low and high PISA groups. Conclusions Baseline periodontitis severity according to the CDC/AAP definitions is associated with the clinical response to bDMARDs for 1 year in RA patients.