Serum levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine and apelin as potential markers of vascular endothelial dysfunction in early rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: Impaired endothelial function represents the early stage of atherosclerosis, which is typically associated with systemic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As modulators of endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression, asymmetric-dimethylarginine (ADMA) and apelin might be measured in the blood of RA patients to detect early atherosclerotic changes. We conducted a prospective, case-control study to investigate serum ADMA and apelin profiles of patients with early-stage RA (ERA) before and after disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy. METHODS: We enrolled 20 consecutively diagnosed, treatment-naïve patients with ERA and 20 matched healthy controls. Serum ADMA and apelin levels and the 28-joint disease activity scores (DAS28) were assessed before and after 12 months of DMARDs treatment. All patients underwent ultrasonographic assessment for intima-media tickness (IMT) evaluation. RESULTS: In the ERA group, ADMA serum levels were significantly higher than controls at baseline (P = 0.007) and significantly decreased after treatment (P = 0.012 versus controls). Baseline serum apelin levels were significantly decreased in this group (P = 0.0001 versus controls), but they were not significantly altered by treatment. IMT did not show significant changes. CONCLUSIONS: ERA is associated with alterations of serum ADMA and apelin levels, which might be used as biomarkers to detect early endothelial dysfunction in these patients.

Rituximab infusion-related adverse event rates are lower in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus than in those with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: Rituximab (RTX) is a therapeutic option for patients with SLE or RA. We conducted a prospective, longitudinal, observational study to compare rates of RTX-related adverse events (AEs) in these two patient groups. METHODS: RTX was used in 23 patients with SLE that was refractory to conventional therapy and in 31 patients with RA that had been unsuccessfully treated with TNF-α inhibitors. Infusion-related and infectious AE rates were calculated for each group. RESULTS: Seven (22.5%) RA patients experienced an infusion-related reaction. These AEs involved 7/91 (7.7%) infusions administered in the RA group. None of the 102 infusions administered to SLE patients was associated with infusion-related AEs (P = 0.038 vs RA group). The mean daily glucocorticoid dose administered during the week preceding RTX treatment in the SLE group was higher than that for the RA group [0.25 (0.2) vs 0.18 (0.14) mg/kg, P = not significant] and significantly higher than that received by the subgroup of the seven RA patients who experienced infusion-related AEs [0.10 (0.02) mg/kg; P = 0.0017]. Infectious AE rates were also lower (but not significantly so) in the SLE group (8.7 vs 12.9% in RA). CONCLUSIONS: Repeated cycles of RTX in combination with different immunosuppressants is a safe therapeutic option for SLE and RA patients. The lower incidence of infusion-related AEs in the SLE patients might reflect the higher dosage glucocorticoid therapy they received during the week before RTX infusion.

Flare, persistently active disease, and serologically active clinically quiescent disease in systemic lupus erythematosus: a 2-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVE: Several indices have been proposed to assess disease activity in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Recent studies have showed a prevalence of flare between 28-35.3%, persistently active disease (PAD) between 46%-52% and serologically active clinically quiescent (SACQ) disease ranging from 6 to 15%. Our goal was to evaluate the flare, PAD and SACQ rate incidence in a cohort of SLE patients over a 2-year follow-up. METHODS: We evaluated 394 SLE patients. Flare was defined as an increase in SLEDAI-2K score of ≥4 from the previous visit; PAD was defined as a SLEDAI-2K score of ≥4, on >2 consecutive visits; SACQ was defined as at least a 2-year period without clinical activity and with persistent serologic activity. RESULTS: Among the 95 patients eligible for the analysis in 2009, 7 (7.3%) had ≥1 flare episode, whereas 9 (9.4%) had PAD. Similarly, among the 118 patients selected for the analysis in 2010, 6 (5%) had ≥1 flare episode, whereas 16 (13.5%) had PAD. Only 1/45 patient (2.2%) showed SACQ during the follow-up. CONCLUSION: We showed a low incidence of flare, PAD and SACQ in Italian SLE patients compared with previous studies which could be partly explained by ethnic differences.