SAN FRANCISCO—Metabolomics could one day be a treasure map of information about inflammation in rheumatic disease. There are many metabolic pathways to pursue for clues on how to reverse this damaging process. “All of these signaling pathways are interrelated and affect each other,” said Douglas J. Veale, MD, director of translational research at Dublin Academic…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) show imbalance in their fungal intestinal microbiota, according to new findings. “The fungal microbiota is a new actor to take into account in the pathogenesis of IBD and potentially in other diseases,” Dr. Harry Sokol of Hospital Saint-Antoine in Paris, an author of the new study,…
Researchers have created a microdevice with Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells to aid in studying the human gut microbiome’s role in homeostasis, immune modulation and pathology. Using this gut-on-a-chip, researchers were able to examine in detail the processes they think result in chronic intestinal inflammation…
In a large group genetic analysis, researchers identified an association between the class II HLA region, including HLA-DRB1*11, and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), implicating adaptive immune molecules in sJIA’s pathogenesis and reinforcing its unique genetic position among JIA subtypes…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Almost half of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients treated with etanercept achieve minimal disease activity after one year of treatment, according to new findings. Younger patients and those who did not require corticosteroid treatment were more likely to have an excellent response, Dr. Kimme Hyrich of the University of Manchester in the…
When investigating the role of epigenetic modifiers in inflammatory response, researchers found that Tet2 acts at the chromatin level to help resolve inflammation in both dendritic cells and macrophage, repressing the transcription of IL-6…
Recognizing the need to provide guidance on the current disparate management of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in collaboration with the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), recently published the first international set of recommendations for the screening, treatment and management of PMR.1,2 Specifically, the recommendations offer guidance on the use of…
On May 23, 2010, Cindy Abbott was standing on top of the world. She had spent the past 51 days climbing Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, and had finally reached the summit. “I was very anxious to get off and get back down,” she says, adding that the summit is about the…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Careful use of antibiotics and corticosteroids can substantially improve the safety of autologous hematopoietic stem transplantation (HSCT) in patients with refractory Crohn’s disease (CD), researchers from Spain report. “Autologous HSCT is feasible but it is associated with severe adverse events and even mortality,” Dr. Elena Ricart from Hospital Clinic de Barcelona tells…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) commonly develop skin lesions related to anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) medications, according to a retrospective study. “We were most surprised by the relatively high percentage (30%) of patients developing skin problems while being treated with anti-TNF agents,” Dr. Isabelle Cleynen from KU Leuven, Belgium, tells Reuters…