For patients with refractory Takayasu arteritis (TAK), glucocorticoids (GCs) are often provided as the initial therapy for treatment. However, GCs are often associated with adverse effects for long-term use; relapse also occurs frequently during GC tapering.1 TAK involves interleukin (IL) 6. Tocilizumab—a recombinant, humanized, anti-IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) monoclonal antibody—was first reported by Nishimoto et al….
Evidence is accumulating that the microbiome may be an important part of the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases. Two recently published articles report on how translocation of the gut bacterium Enterococcus gallinarum drives autoimmunity in mice and humans, and on the role of other commensal bacteria in triggering immune responses—specifically to the autoantigen Ro60, which…
September is national Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month. Encourage your patients to take the ACR’s pledge to live well with rheumatic disease, and help your community understand how these diseases affect your patients…
The CMS has submitted its annual proposed rule, which continues the transition to a value-based model, for comment by stakeholders and the public for the 2019 MIPS performance year (Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2019).
Based on the classification system developed by the Chapel Hill Consensus Conference, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis is defined as a necrotizing vasculitis involving small vessels that is associated with myeloperoxidase (MPO) ANCA or proteinase 3 (PR3) ANCA and displays minimal immune deposits. The mechanism behind the pathogenesis of ANCA-associated vasculitis is not fully…
The immune system is an ocean, wide, vast and unfathomably deep, over which we rheumatologists traverse. Beyond the ripples, waves and eddies on the surface, we can only imagine what lies under the surface. With new information from basic laboratory studies and the incorporation of immunomodulators into clinical practice, we have some new insight into…
Can principles from engineering provide a broader understanding of how the human skeleton works and be used to help prevent a common and often consequential event for people as they age—bone fractures? Research from a team of investigators that includes orthopedic surgeons and mechanical engineers suggests that, yes, looking at how engineered materials, such as…
In 1982, the ACR developed classification criteria for the identification of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) for use in research. The ACR updated these criteria in 1997, and in 2012, the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) group developed an additional set of classification criteria. In 2014, in an attempt to establish and refine even more…
The 11th annual Investigators’ Meeting and the Rheumatology Research Workshop, held in June in San Francisco, were by all accounts great successes. California sunshine greeted more than 120 attendees as we came together to share the latest advances and updates in rheumatology research. These annual meetings have something for every research professional, whether you work…
You can purchase a dog clicker for about $3 on Amazon. If you don’t own a dog, this is not a useful piece of information. I don’t own a dog, and the first time I heard the phrase dog clicker, I thought—I think understandably—that it was some sort of remote control. If you don’t own…