Update on classification, diagnosis, and management of immunoglobulin G4-related disease / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a newly recognized chronic fibro-inflammatory autoimmune disease, and its recognition has been constantly increasing worldwide over the last few years. A correct and timely recognition, as well as appropriate intervention, is crucial for the treatment of IgG4-RD. For certain subtypes of IgG4-RD, organ-specific criteria are formulated to make the diagnosis more accurate. New biomarkers have emerged in the recent years to aid the disease diagnosis, its prognosis prediction, as well as therapy response monitoring. Although recurrence is very common in IgG4-RD, glucocorticoid is still the first-line treatment for the majority of patients. The factors that affect the likelihood of disease relapse are multifaceted. The selection strategy of various steroid-sparing agents is still being explored. Besides, when patients have special sites involvement leading to severe clinical conditions, surgical operation or interventional therapy should also be considered. An update on classification, diagnosis, and management of IgG4-RD is provided in the current study to fully elucidate the recommended clinical practice of this mysterious disease.

Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of IgG 4 related diseases / 中华内科杂志

IgG 4 related disease (IgG 4-RD) is an immune medicated rare disease, characterized with chronic inflammation and fibrosis in the involved organs, it is a systemic disease affected nearly every anatomic site of the body, usually involvement of multiple organs, and with diverse clinical manifestations. Due to the the relative novelty of the disease and under-recognition, the overall level of diagnosis and treatment in China is uneven. Till now, there is no relevant expert consensus or guidance of IgG 4-RD in China. In order to further improve the understanding and standardize the management of IgG 4-RD, on the basis of summarizing domestic and international experience, the China Alliance For Rare Diseases, together with the Chinese Rheumatology Association, organized an expert group and established the Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of IgG 4 related diseases.

Patterns of tocilizumab use in clinical practice of rheumatoid arthritis: a multi-center, non-interventional study in China / 中华风湿病学杂志

Objective:To study the patterns of tocilizumab (TCZ) use, its efficacy and safety in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in routine clinical practice.Methods:A total of 407 patients with RA were enrolled from 23 centers and treated with TCZ within 8 weeks prior to the enrollment visit, and were followed for 6-month. The patterns of TCZ treatment at 6 months, the effectiveness and safety outcomes were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS version 9.4.Results:A total of 396 patients were included for analysis, in which 330 (83.3%) patients received TCZ combined with conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs), and 16.7%(66/396) received TCZ monotherapy. At baseline, TCZ was initiated in 56.6%(224/396) and 9.6%(38/396) of patients after failure of DMARDs and other biological agents (bDMARDs) respectively. During the 6-month follow-up period, the mean frequency of TCZ administration was (3.7±1.6), the mean TCZ dosage was (7.4±1.2) mg/kg, and the mean interval between doses was (40±13) days. 120(25.8%) patients were on TCZ treatment at the end of the study. Improvements in disease activity, systemic symptoms and patient report outcomes were observed at the end of the study. 22.7%(90/396) patients experienced at least one treatment related adverse event, and 8 patients experienced at least one serious adverse event.Conclusion:This study demonstrates that TCZ treatment is effective in patients with RA when being treated for 6 months with an acceptable safety profile. The duration of TCZ treatment needs to be extended.

Quantitative Analysis of Parotid Gland Secretion Function in Sjögren's Syndrome Patients with Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Sialography

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the secretory function of parotid glands by dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) sialography and determine the clinical performance of this technique in diagnosing and evaluating Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study enrolled 29 healthy volunteers (25 women and 4 men; mean age, 34.8 ± 6.3 years; age range, 26–47 years) and 25 primary SS (pSS) patients (23 women and 2 men; mean age, 37.7 ± 7.9 years; age range, 25–50 years) with decreased secretory function. The volume of the parotid gland ducts was precisely measured for both groups at single pre- and 6 post-gustatory-stimulated phases. Time-dependent volume change ratio curves were generated, four parameters were derived from the curves: the slope of the increase in the first post-stimulation phase (slope(1st)), the peak value, the time-to-peak, the total saliva secretion post-stimulation. All values were used to quantitatively evaluate the secretory function of the parotid gland. The repeated measurement analysis, Mann-Whitney U test and receiver operating characteristic curve were applied. RESULTS: Time-dependent volume change ratio curves demonstrated that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups (F = 8.750; p = 0.005). A quickly increasing curve was shown in the volunteer group, whereas a slowly increasing curve was shown in the pSS patient group. The slope(1st), peak value and total saliva secretion post-stimulation of the patient group were significantly lower than those of the volunteer group (p = 0.005, p = 0.003, and p = 0.002, respectively). The time-to-peak between the two groups was not significantly different (p = 0.383). The slope(1st) can be used as a discriminator to diagnose SS patients (p = 0.015; odds ratio = 4.234; area under the curve = 0.726). CONCLUSION: Dynamic MR sialography is proven to be an effective method in evaluating salivary gland function and has a great potential in diagnosing and evaluating pSS patients.

Current application and drug adherence to tocilizumab in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis: a real-life single center study / 中华风湿病学杂志

Objective To evaluate the safety and drug adherence of tocilizumab(TCZ)in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis(RA)in routine clinical practice. Methods This 24 week single center observational study recruited patients with moderate to severe RA. Therapy adherence rate was calculated by actual dosing/expected dosing×100%. Efficacy end points included physician global assessment of disease activity(PGA),patient global assessment of disease activity(PtGA),28-joint disease activity score(DAS28)and so on. Safety was evaluated by recorded adverse events (AEs). Results Sixty patients were enrolled with a mean (SD) treatment adherence of (67±27)%. PGA, PtGA, pain assessment (VAS), TJC and SJC all decreased during this study. At the 12th week, 25%(6/24) and 29%(7/24) of the patients achieved DAS28 remission and EULAR good response,respectively.Eighteen AEs were recorded,of which only 2 were severe AEs(SAEs)and neither was related to TCZ. Conclusion TCZ is a highly safe treatment for decreasing disease activity in patients with moderate to severe RA in China.However,drug adherence still need to be improved.