Oliver FitzGerald
There were two posters that struck me as very interesting, both coming to similar conclusions. In the first poster, by Jae Hee Yun from the Winchester group at Columbia Univerisity, psoriatic arthritis adipose tissue was shown to be a potent producer of pro-inflammatory mediators. In the second poster, by Michael Garshick from the departments of Cardiology and Dermatology at NYU, endothelial cells were harvested from the brachial vein with the use of a pediatric J-wire, from patients with psoriatic disease and from controls. Analysis of endothelial cells using qPCR with Taqman probes and primers displayed upregulated pro-inflammatory transcripts in patients with psoriatic disease when compared with controls; similar to what was found by Yun and colleagues in adipose tissue. These results suggest a more systemic response in psoriatic disease; much beyond skin, entheseal and synovial tissue as previously assumed.
Fernando Pérez-Ruiz
Estimates of Diet Quality Explain Less Variability in Serum Urate Levels Than Genetic Factors
This study tested for associations between serum urate levels and four composite dietary scores (including Healthy-Eating Pyramid, DASH Diet and Mediterranean Diet) or a genetic risk score using US population databases. The authors found that quality of diet has less impact on serum urate levels than genetic predisposition.
Preventing a Large Majority of Incident Gout Cases By Modifying Key Risk Factors: Findings from a Prospective Cohort of 44,629 Men over 26 Years
This paper explores the impact of five modifiable risk factors associated with the risk of developing gout: low body mass index, DASH-style diet, no alcohol intake, vitamin C supplementation, and no diuretic use. The authors found that all five factors were independently associated with incident gout, and accounted for 70% of incident gout cases in this cohort.
Impact of Urate-Lowering Therapy on the Risk of Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality Among Individuals with Gout
This current population-based matched-cohort study evaluates the impact of urate-lowering therapy (ULT) on cardiovascular (CV) events and overall mortality. In this cohort, ULT initiation was associated with a higher risk of CV events and all-cause mortality, therefore does not support the beneficial effects of ULT initiation. However, lacking data on severity of gout and whether serum urate target levels were reached may have limited these results.
Proton Pump Inhibitors and Risk of Calcium Pyrophosphate Deposition (CPPD) in a Population-Based Study
This paper examined the relation of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use with the development of calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD). The authors found that incident use of PPIs was associated with a small but increased risk of CPPD, when compared with incident use of H2 blockers. However, the small number of diagnosed CPPD cases may limit the results in this study.
Exploring the Relationship between Gout and Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH): An Epidemiologic and Genetic Study
Although gout has been associated with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), it not known whether gout has a direct effect or the association is due to common risk factors. This study showed that DISH is more common in people with gout, but the relationship between gout and DISH is likely due to shared risk factors, as specific features of the metabolic syndrome.
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