Subclinical disease activity may result in unstable remission (ie, a status of clinical but not immunological remission). Biomarkers such as S100A12 and MRP8/14 inform about the activation status of innate immunity at the molecular level and thereby identify patients with unstable remission and an increased risk of relapse.

BackgroundGranulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), formerly known as Wegener’s granulomatosis (WG), belongs to the group of ANCA-associated necrotizing vasculitides. This study describes the clinical picture of the disease in a large cohort of GPA paediatric patients.Children with age at diagnosis ≤ 18 years, fulfilling the EULAR/PRINTO/PRES GPA/WG classification criteria were extracted from the PRINTO vasculitis database. The clinical signs/symptoms and laboratory features were analysed before or at the time of diagnosis and at least 3 months thereafter and compared with other paediatric and adult case series (>50 patients) derived from the literature.FindingsThe 56 children with GPA/WG were predominantly females (68%) and Caucasians (82%) with a median age at disease onset of 11.7 years, and a median delay in diagnosis of 4.2 months. The most frequent organ systems involved before/at the time of diagnosis were ears, nose, throat (91%), constitutional (malaise, fever, weight loss) (89%), respiratory (79%), mucosa and skin (64%), musculoskeletal (59%), and eye (35%), 67% were ANCA-PR3 positive, while haematuria/proteinuria was present in > 50% of the children. In adult series, the frequency of female involvement ranged from 29% to 50% with lower frequencies of constitutional (fever, weight loss), ears, nose, throat (oral/nasal ulceration, otitis/aural discharge), respiratory (tracheal/endobronchial stenosis/obstruction), laboratory involvement and higher frequency of conductive hearing loss than in this paediatric series.ConclusionsPaediatric patients compared to adults with GPA/WG have similar pattern of clinical manifestations but different frequencies of organ involvement.

Incidence of IBD in patients with JIA is higher than in the population. MTX turned out to be protective, even in combination with ETN.

Objective To evaluate safety and effectiveness of adalimumab (ADA) in polyarticular‐course juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in the STRIVE registry. Methods STRIVE enrolled patients with polyarticular‐course JIA into 2 arms based on treatment with methotrexate (MTX) alone or ADA with/without MTX (ADA ± MTX). Adverse events (AEs) per 100 patient‐years of observation time were analyzed by registry arm. Patients who entered the registry within 4 weeks of starting MTX or ADA ± MTX, defined as new users, were evaluated for change in disease activity assessed by the 27‐joint Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score with the C‐reactive protein level (JADAS‐27CRP). Results At the 7‐year cutoff date (June 1, 2016), data from 838 patients were available (MTX arm n = 301, ADA ± MTX arm n = 537). The most common AEs were nausea (10.3%), sinusitis (4.7%), and vomiting (4.3%) in the MTX arm and arthritis (3.9%), upper respiratory tract infection (3.5%), sinusitis, tonsillitis, and injection site pain (3.0% each) in the ADA ± MTX arm. Rates of serious infection were 1.5 events/100 patient‐years in the MTX arm and 2.0 events/100 patient‐years in the ADA ± MTX arm. AE and serious AE rates were similar in patients receiving ADA with versus without MTX. No deaths or malignancies were reported. New users in the ADA ± MTX arm showed a trend toward lower mean JADAS‐27CRP compared with new users in the MTX arm in the first year of STRIVE. Conclusion The STRIVE registry 7‐year interim results support the idea that ADA ± MTX is well tolerated by most children. Registry median ADA exposure was 2.47 (interquartile range 1.0–3.6) years, with 42% of patients continuing ADA at the 7‐year cutoff date.

BackgroundJIA is the most common chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease of childhood. TNF inhibitors are used for long-term control of pJIA disease.ObjectivesTo evaluate the 7 year (y) safety of Adalimumab treatment with or without methotrexate (ADA±MTX) when used in current clinical practice for treatment of patients (pts) with active pJIA.MethodsThis is a 7 y interim analysis of an ongoing, multicenter, non-interventional, observational registry of pts with pJIA with up to10 y safety follow-up. Included pts were treated with ADA±MTX or MTX alone as comparison arm according to routine clinical care in PRINTO/PRCSG centres in EU, USA and Australia. MedDRA observational adverse events (AEs) were recorded from 1st day in the registry through last contact, irrespective of duration of registry treatment.ResultsIn January 2014, enrollment was complete. As of June 1, 2016 cut-off date, 838 pts (301- MTX arm and 537 - ADA±MTX arm) were treated in the registry. There were 39 pts who rolled over from MTX to ADA±MTX arm. At registry entry mean pJIA disease duration was 1.3 y and 3.7 y and mean AJC71 was 5.8 and 5.2 for MTX and ADA±MTX arms, respectively. CHAQ disability index was 0.6 for both arms. Mean duration of study drug exposure in registry was 2.0 y (range: 0.0 – 7.1) and 2.5 y (range: 0.0 – 7.9) for MTX and ADA±MTX arms, respectively. Mean duration of observation in registry was 3.9 y (range: 0.0 – 7.2) and 3.5 y (range: 0.0 – 7.9) for MTX and ADA±MTX arms, respectively. Overall, 213 pts (70.8%) in MTX and 225 pts (41.9%) in ADA±MTX arms discontinued registry drug through 7 y. Main reasons (not exclusively) for registry drug discontinuation for MTX arm: pts required additional therapy (32.6%), other (13.3%), lack of efficacy (11.6%), AEs (9.3%), or pts achieved JIA remission (8.6%); for ADA±MTX arm: lack of efficacy (17.9%), other (7.3%), lost to follow-up (5.6%), AEs (5.4%), or pts achieved JIA remission (5.0%). Frequencies and rates of treatment-emergent AEs (from 1st dose date of registry drug in registry up to last dose + 70 days in registry, excluding AEs occurring during treatment interruption) were similar to those reported for observational AEs (from 1st day in registry up to last contact irrespective of drug treatment duration) (Table). Rate of serious infections was similar between MTX and ADA±MTX arms. One pt (0.2%) reported an event of opportunistic infection (fungal oesophagitis) in ADA±MTX arm. No reports of deaths, malignancies, active tuberculosis, oral candidiasis, demyelination, or congestive heart failure.ConclusionsOverall, ADA±MTX was well-tolerated in these pts with pJIA with no new safety signals. The retention rate for registry drug was higher in ADA±MTX arm compared to MTX arm.AcknowledgementsAbbVie sponsored the study & contributed with PRINTO & PRCSG to analysis, review, approval of the abstract. X. Leahy & A. Deshmukh (AbbVie) contributed to research. Medical writing: G. Patki (AbbVie).Disclosure of InterestN. Ruperto Grant/research support from: AbbVie Inc., AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Sq...