Connective tissue diseases

Alfred Kim talks about the initial promise of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 and why it did not stand up to later scrutiny (13:06).

Observational study findings from Spain show that some but not all rheumatic diseases are associated with an increased risk for hospital-diagnosed COVID-19 and the risk is influenced by age and previous therapies.

Ana Rita Cruz-Machado and Laura Andreoli present a case study of a female patient with systemic lupus erythematosus on treatment with teratogenic immunosuppressive drugs who wanted to have a child.

Eric Morand explores the reasons why the TULIP-1 and TULIP-2 trials of anifrolumab found different primary results, and discusses the search for optimal endpoints in lupus trials.

Rheumatologists highlight that more research needs to be carried out before chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine can be recommended for the treatment of COVID-19, and emphasize the need for adequate supplies of these agents for people with rheumatic diseases.

Findings from a proof-of-concept phase 2 study suggest that treatment with the antidiabetes drug metformin could help minimize some metabolic complications and improve clinical outcomes for patients taking systemic glucocorticoid therapy.

An analysis of percutaneous coronary intervention outcomes among people with rheumatic diseases suggests that those with systemic sclerosis have an elevated risk for multiple in-hospital complications, while patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have an increased bleeding risk.

Latika Gupta and Rohit Aggarwal evaluate the use of myositis-specific antibodies in the classification and management of this disease.

People with a high genetic risk score for systemic lupus erythematosus experience earlier disease onset, as well as higher rates of complications and mortality, than those with a low score, researchers report.

A quarter of patients in remission for systemic lupus erythematosus have elevated serum interferon-α levels and may be at increased risk for relapse, French researchers report.

The low-dose recombinant IL-2 therapy aldesleukin has a favorable safety profile and may restore regulatory T-cell homeostasis in people with systemic lupus erythematosus, suggest findings from a proof-of-concept phase I/IIa clinical trial.

Antigone Pieta, Dionysis Nikolopoulos, and Antonis Fanouriakis discuss the causes and management of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus, and outline unmet needs in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

In the past two decades pregnancy outcomes, including in-hospital maternal mortality, have improved among women with systemic lupus erythematosus, but further improvements are needed to reduce risks further, US research shows.

Andrea Fava and George Stojan review new strategies and agents for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus that have most recently showed promise in clinical trials.

Antonis Fanouriakis, lead author of the updated EULAR guidelines for the management of lupus, talks to medwireNews about what’s new in these guidelines and how they will influence clinical practice.

Influenza vaccination gives rise to an adequate immune response among patients with rheumatic conditions, researchers report.

Lupus nephritis is the most common organ-threatening complication of systemic lupus erythematosus, and current treatment regimens are only partially effective and are potentially toxic. In this editorial, the authors focus on emerging therapeutics to treat this disease.

Preliminary results from a phase Ib trial suggest that add-on treatment with the anti-IgE antibody omalizumab may be a feasible option for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Daniel Furst and Nihal Fathi present a case of a patient with diffuse systemic sclerosis who undergoes autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after failing two other therapies.