This study suggests that older age-onset SLE is not benign. There may be an interaction between lupus and age in which, although there is less lupus nephritis in the elderly, more disease activity and damage are present.

Imatinib was poorly tolerated, and this could limit its application in SSc. The study was too small to form conclusions about the efficacy of imatinib in SSc.

Glucocorticoid therapy is frequently used in early inflammatory arthritis. The use of calcium, vitamin D or a bisphosphonate was low among chronic glucocorticoid users and illustrates the need for more diligence in patients receiving glucocorticoids to prevent GIOP.

SummaryBackgroundTo examine the effect of probiotics as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A sample size of 30 subjects was calculated to determine a moderate effect.Material/MethodsA three month double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed using probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 capsules administered orally. Inclusion criteria required at least 4 swollen and 4 tender joints and stable medications with no steroids for at least 1 month prior to and during the study. Twenty-nine patients with RA were randomized to treatment. ACR20 responses, serum cytokine levels and safety parameters were assessed.ResultsFifteen patients were randomized to the probiotic group, and 14 to placebo. Three subjects in the probiotic (20%) and one in the placebo group (7%) achieved an ACR20 response (p= 0.33). There was no statistically significant difference between individual components of the ACR20 criteria. Changes in cytokines favored placebo over probiotic. There was a significant improvement in the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score in the probiotic group from visit 1 to visit 3 (p=0.02) but no between-group differences.ConclusionsDue to inclusion criteria, patients selected for the study had stable RA with chronic synovitis, and thus it may have been difficult for an adjunctive therapy to demonstrate improvement within 3 months. Although probiotics did not clinically improve RA as measured by the ACR20, it is interesting that there was functional improvement seen within the probiotic group compared to placebo.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01545427.

No abstract

We determined the prevalence of work disability in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) and undifferentiated early inflammatory arthritis (EIA) patients at first enrollment into the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH) who met the 2010 ACR criteria versus those not meeting criteria, to determine the impact of meeting new criteria on work disability status. Data at first visit into the cohort were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the association of other variables in our database with work disability. 1,487 patients were enrolled in the CATCH study, a multi-site observational, prospective cohort of patients with EIA. 934 patients were excluded (505 based on missing criteria for ACR 2010 classification, as anti-CCP was absent, and 429 were not working for other reasons). Of the 553 patients included, 71 % were female with mean disease duration of 6.4 months. 524 (94.8 %) were employed while 29 (5.2 %) reported work disability at first visit. There were no differences between those meeting 2010 ACR criteria versus those who did not. Baseline characteristics associated with work disability were male gender, age, education, income, HAQ, and positive RF status. The mean HAQ score in work disabled patients was 1.4 versus 0.9 in those who were working (p < 0.001). Disease activity score (DAS28) was not associated with work disability (p = 0.069), nor was tender joint count, swollen joint count, anti-CCP, patient global assessment, or SF-12v2. In the regression model, work disability was associated with lower income levels (p = 0.01) and worse HAQ scores (OR 2.33; p = 0.001), but not significantly associated with male gender (p = 0.08), older age (>50 years; p = 0.3), lower education (p = 0.3) or RF positivity (p = 0.6). We found rates of work disability to be low at entry into this EIA cohort compared to previous studies. There may be potential for intervention in ERA to prevent the development of work disability.