Effectiveness of Golimumab as Second Anti-TNFα Drug in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Axial Spondyloarthritis in Italy: GO-BEYOND, a Prospective Real-World Observational Study.

In this prospective observational study, data were collected from 34 rheumatology clinics in Italy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) who started golimumab (GLM) as a second anti-TNFα drug. The primary objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of GLM after 6 months. Changes in quality of life using the EQ-5D-5L were also assessed. A total of 194 patients aged 53.2 ± 12 years started GLM as a second anti-TNF drug: 39 (20.1%) with RA, 91 (46.9%) with PsA and 64 (32.9%) with axSpA. After 6 months of GLM treatment, 68% of RA patients achieved low disease activity (LDA; DAS28-CRP ≤ 3.2), 31.9% of PsA patients achieved minimal disease activity and 32.5% of axSpA patients achieved LDA (ASDAS-CRP < 2.1). Good/moderate EULAR response was achieved in 61.9% and 73.8% of patients with RA and PsA, respectively, and 16% of axSpA patients achieved a 50% improvement in BASDAI. Across all indications, improvements in disease activity measures and EQ-5D-5L domains were observed over 6 months. The main reasons for GLM interruption were lack/loss of efficacy (7.2%) or adverse events (2%). This study confirms the effectiveness of GLM as a second-line anti-TNF for the treatment of RA, PsA and axSpA in a real-world setting in Italy.

The Impact of Biologic Drugs on High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Efflux Capacity in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients.

BACKGROUND: One of the most intriguing conundrums in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the lack of correlation between cholesterol levels and cardiovascular (CV) events, diminishing the reliability of plasmatic lipid levels in estimating the CV risk. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol efflux capacity (HDLc-EC) directly indicates the functional ability of HDL to scavenge cholesterol from vascular wall and may provide better information on the atherogenic risk. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of different disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs on HDLc-EC in RA. METHODS: Consecutive RA patients treated with different biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or methotrexate monotherapy were longitudinally observed. Demographic and clinical features as well as lipid profile were recorded at baseline, 24-week, and 52-week follow-up. At the same time points, HDLc-EC was evaluated using J771 macrophages and a fluorometric assay. RESULTS: We analyzed 100 RA patients on methotrexate, infliximab, tocilizumab, abatacept, or rituximab. No significant changes in the lipoprotein levels were detected, whereas the mean HDLc-EC statistically increased from baseline (22.5% ± 4.8%) to 24 weeks (24.5% ± 5.7%; p < 0.001) and 52 weeks (25.1% ± 5.9%; p < 0.001). Patients on tocilizumab showed the highest increase in HDLc-EC, already at 24 weeks. Patients on treatment with infliximab or rituximab showed a significant increase in HDLc-EC at 52 weeks. No significant changes were detected in abatacept and methotrexate groups. CONCLUSIONS: Some treatments may impact cholesterol reverse transport in RA. The improved HDLc-EC, independently from lipid levels, may be one of the missing links between inflammation, lipids, and CV risk in RA.

Temporomandibular Disorders and Oral Features in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: An Observational Study.

Aims: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) represent a heterogeneous group of inflammatory or degenerative diseases of the stomatognatic system, with algic and/or dysfunctional clinical features involving temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and related masticatory muscles. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune polyarthritis characterized by the chronic inflammation of synovial joints and oral implications such as hyposalivation, difficulty in swallowing and phoning, feeling of burning mouth, increased thirst, loss of taste or unpleasant taste and smell, dental sensitivity. The aim of this observational study was to investigate the prevalence of TMD symptoms and signs as well as oral implications in patients with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (ERA), that is a RA diagnosed within 12 months, compared with a control group. Methods: The study group included 52 ERA patients (11 men, 41 women) diagnosed according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for Rheumatoid Arthritis. A randomly selected group of 52 patients not affected by this disease, matched by sex and age, served as the control group. The examination for TMD signs and symptoms was based on the standardized Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) by means of a questionnaire and through clinical examination. Results: Regarding the oral kinematics, the left lateral excursion of the mandible was restricted in statistically significant way in ERA patients (p=0.017). The endfeel values were significantly increased in ERA group (p=0.0017), thus showing the presence of a higher muscle contracture. On the other side, the study group complained less frequently (67.3%) of TDM symptoms (muscle pain on chewing, pain in the neck and shoulders muscles, difficulty in mouth opening, arthralgia of TMJ, tinnitus) than controls (90.4%) (χ2= 8.301 p=0.0039). The presence of TMJ noises was significantly lower in the study group (χ2= 3.869 p=0.0049), as well as presence of opening derangement (χ2= 14.014 p=0.0002). The salivary flow was significantly decreased in the study group respect to the control one (p<0.0001). Conclusions: The data collected show a weak TMJ kinematic impairment, a paucisymptomatic muscle contracture (positive endfeel) and a remarkable reduction of salivary flow in ERA patients. Myofacial pain (MP) evoked by palpation was more frequent and severe in the control group than in the study one, this result being highly significant.

Sarcopenia in Patients with Rheumatic Diseases: Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors.

The prevalence of sarcopenia in rheumatic diseases has been evaluated in single diseases using various diagnostic approaches, generating conflicting data on the pathogenetic mechanism(s). Herein, we evaluated both muscle mass index (MMI) and muscle strength to assess sarcopenia and presarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Moreover, we evaluated the possible impact of disease/patient-related characteristics, therapeutic regimens, and nutritional aspects on sarcopenia. The present study included 168 patients of both genders, aged 40⁻75 years. All patients underwent a nutritional evaluation, physical activity level assessment, rheumatologic evaluation, and an MMI and muscle strength assessment. The prevalence of sarcopenia was about 20% in all the three rheumatologic diseases, whereas presarcopenia was significantly different in RA, PsA and AS (p = 0.006). At multivariate analysis, only age ≥60 years and the presence of a disability were associated with a significantly increased risk of sarcopenia (p = 0.006 and p = 0.01, respectively), while a higher C-reactive protein did not reach statistical significance. Sarcopenia is similar in RA, PsA and AS, whereas presarcopenia significantly differs in these three diseases. Disease activity/inflammation and nutritional aspects do not influence sarcopenia, while age ≥60 years and the presence of a disability significantly increase the risk of sarcopenia.

Lipids and Atherogenic Indices Fluctuation in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients on Long-Term Tocilizumab Treatment.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are at high risk of cardiovascular (CV) events, and the chronic inflammatory state may generate quantitative and qualitative changes in lipoprotein fractions. The anti-IL-6 receptor tocilizumab (TCZ), even if effective in inflammation and joint damage prevention, determined significant alterations to RA patients' lipid levels in randomized controlled trials, but real-world data are lacking. We evaluated the changes in lipid fraction levels and disease activity in a longitudinal cohort of RA patients on long-term treatment with tocilizumab (TCZ) in a community setting. We retrospectively selected 40 naïve-biologic RA patients on treatment with intravenous TCZ compared to 20 RA patients on methotrexate treatment as the control group. Total cholesterol (Tot-Chol), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglyceride (TG) levels were measured at the baseline and at 12, 24, and 52 weeks thereafter. At the same points, 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28), clinical disease activity index (CDAI), and EULAR clinical responses were also assessed. During the first 24 weeks, we observed in TCZ-treated patients a progressive statistically significant (p < 0.001) increase in Tot-Chol, LDL, HDL, and TG, which returned close to the baseline at 52 weeks. But no changes in the lipid-related CV risk indices Tot-Chol/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios and the atherogenic index (log10 TG/HDL) were detectable. Notably, we observed a statistically significant negative correlation between changes in lipid fractions and DAS28 or CDAI. The prolonged treatment with TCZ was associated to a transient increase in cholesterol's fractions during the first 6 months of treatment, with inverse correlation to disease activity, but with no impact on surrogate lipid indices of atherogenic risk. These findings may aid clinicians in interpreting the RA patient's lipid profile in daily clinical practice.

Golimumab in real-life settings: 2 Years drug survival and predictors of clinical outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the drug survival of golimumab, and predictors thereof, in patients affected with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis (SpA), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in a prospective observational cohort. METHODS: This is a non-interventional, longitudinal study on RA, SpA, and PsA patients starting treatment with golimumab. Endpoints were the 2 years persistence rate of golimumab and predictors of therapy discontinuation. Drug retention was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox models. Hazard ratios (HR) of golimumab discontinuation were estimated by Cox-regression hazard models. RESULTS: Of 416 patients starting golimumab, 171 biologic-naïve and 245 inadequate responders to prior biologic drugs, 88 had RA, 147 SpA, and 181 PsA. Global 2 years drug retention was 70.2%, with no different hazard of discontinuation among diseases or line of biologic treatment. The strongest predictor of golimumab discontinuation was female gender (HR = 1.95). Golimumab monotherapy was associated with higher risk drug interruption (HR = 1.67). Within SpA, predictors of golimumab discontinuation were female sex (HR = 4.19), and absence of extra-articular manifestations (HR = 4.60). In PsA, duration of disease was negatively associated to drug interruption (HR = 0.93), whereas golimumab monotherapy was positively (HR = 2.21) associated. Interestingly, failing to achieve a good EULAR response at 3 months was the only predictor of golimumab discontinuation for RA patients (HR = 3.03). CONCLUSIONS: This study provided evidence that golimumab has high retention rate in real-life settings. SpA male patients with extra-articular manifestations, PsA patients on co-therapy with DMARDs, and RA patients attaining an early clinical response had the highest probability to continue golimumab over 2 years.

Long-term safety of anti-TNF agents on the liver of patients with spondyloarthritis and potential occult hepatitis B viral infection: an observational multicentre study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to retrospectively evaluate the long-term safety profile of anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α agents on the liver of patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) and a previously resolved hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. METHODS: Medical records from 992 consecutive outpatients receiving anti-TNF-α therapy between 2007 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. HBV infection was assessed evaluating HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs), antibodies to hepatitis B core (anti-HBc), and HBV-DNA levels. In patients with a previously resolved HBV infection, serum levels of aminotransferase (AST/ALT) were also assessed every three months, while HBsAg and HBV-DNA every six months. RESULTS: We identified 131 consecutive patients (70 males, 61 females) with SpA and resolved HBV infection. At baseline none of the patients were positive for HBV-DNA, and AST/ALT levels were within the normal range with no subsequent increase during the observational treatment period. None received antiviral therapy prior to or during anti-TNF drug administration. At the end of the follow-up period (75.50±33.37 months) no viral reactivation was observed in anti-HBc positive patients, regardless of anti-HBs positivity. During the whole follow-up, HBV-DNA was undetectable in all patients, HBsAg remained negative, and it was not necessary to discontinue biologic therapy because of liver damage. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that pre-emptive antiviral prophylaxis may not be necessary routine, but strict monitoring for AST/ALT levels, as well as for changes in HBV serology and HBV-DNA remain necessary and seem a realistic and cost-effective approach to identify early viral reactivation.

Management of Small Vessel Vasculitides.

Inflammation mediated by cells of the immune system and necrosis are the most striking features observed at the histologic level in patients with vasculitides, clinical entities classified according to pathologic findings involving different organs, to etiology, or to size of vessels involved. Small vessel vasculitides (SVV) are a peculiar group of systemic disorders electively involving small intraparenchymal arteries, arterioles, capillaries, or venules and leading to different levels of vascular obstruction, tissue ischemia and risk of infarction; they can be divided into anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitides and immune complex vasculitides. Despite the significant advances in understanding the whole disease process and pathophysiology of SVV, strong efforts are still needed to draft, share and spread guidelines in the therapeutic management of these protean disorders. After an accurate evaluation of different open or double-blind trials and cohort studies in this review, we analyze the actual medical tools suggested for treating granulomatosis with polyangiitis, microscopic polyangiitis, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, anti-glomerular basement membrane disease and hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis.

Interleukin-1 as a common denominator from autoinflammatory to autoimmune disorders: premises, perils, and perspectives.

A complex web of dynamic relationships between innate and adaptive immunity is now evident for many autoinflammatory and autoimmune disorders, the first deriving from abnormal activation of innate immune system without any conventional danger triggers and the latter from self-/non-self-discrimination loss of tolerance, and systemic inflammation. Due to clinical and pathophysiologic similarities giving a crucial role to the multifunctional cytokine interleukin-1, the concept of autoinflammation has been expanded to include nonhereditary collagen-like diseases, idiopathic inflammatory diseases, and metabolic diseases. As more patients are reported to have clinical features of autoinflammation and autoimmunity, the boundary between these two pathologic ends is becoming blurred. An overview of monogenic autoinflammatory disorders, PFAPA syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, uveitis, pericarditis, Behçet's disease, gout, Sjögren's syndrome, interstitial lung diseases, and Still's disease is presented to highlight the fundamental points that interleukin-1 displays in the cryptic interplay between innate and adaptive immune systems.

Obesity reduces the drug survival of second line biological drugs following a first TNF-α inhibitor in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess whether body mass index (BMI) affects clinical outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients starting a second line biological drug after failure of a first TNF-α blocker. METHODS: From a longitudinal cohort, we analyzed 292 RA patients (66 obese, 109 overweight, and 117 normal-weight) treated with a first ever anti-TNF-α drug. Patients discontinuing the therapy were followed-up if began a second biological drug. Drug survival, by Kaplan-Meier life analysis, and 12 months disease remission based on the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) were assessed for either course of biologics. The baseline predictors of clinical outcomes were assessed by Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Survival of the first anti-TNF-α drug was lower in obese (39.4%) than in normal-weight (49.1%) patients, but the difference was not statistically significant. Obese patients had the highest hazard to discontinue the first anti-TNF-α drug (HR 1.64, 1.02-2.62 95% IC, P=0.04), and the lowest percentage of DAS28-based disease remission at 12 months (P=0.04). In 97 (37 normal-weight, 36 overweight, 24 obese) patients who started a second non-anti-TNF-α biological drug, persistence on therapy was significantly lower in obese (43.5%) than in normal-weight (80%, P=0.04) group, and again obesity significantly predicted drug discontinuation (HR 2.9, 1.08-8.45 95% IC, P=0.04). Significantly, less obese patients attained a disease remission (12%, P=0.004) at 12 months. CONCLUSION: Our study provides evidence that obese RA patients poorly respond to second line non-anti-TNF-α drugs after failure of a first TNF-α inhibitor.

Effectiveness and tuberculosis-related safety profile of interleukin-1 blocking agents in the management of Behçet's disease.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a multi-systemic disorder of unknown etiology characterized by relapsing oral-genital ulcers, uveitis, and involvement of the articular, gastrointestinal, neurologic, and vascular systems. Although the primum movens of this condition remains unknown, a tangled plot combining autoimmune and autoinflammatory pathways has been hypothesized to explain its start and recurrence. In-depth analysis of BD pathogenetic mechanisms, involving dysfunction of multiple proinflammatory molecules, has opened new modalities of treatment: different agents targeting interleukin-1 have been studied in recent years to manage the most difficult and multi-resistant cases of BD. Growing experience with anakinra, canakinumab and gevokizumab is discussed in this review, highlighting the relative efficacy of each drug upon the protean BD clinical manifestations. Safety and tolerability of interleukin-1 antagonists in different doses have been confirmed by numerous observational studies on both large and small cohorts of patients with BD. In particular, the potential for Mycobacterium tuberculosis reactivation and tuberculosis development appears to be significantly lower with interleukin-1 blockers compared to tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors, thus increasing the beneficial profile of this approach.

Lipid profile of rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha drugs changes according to disease activity and predicts clinical response.

Patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) frequently show an atherogenic lipid profile, which has been linked with the inflammatory reaction. Inflammatory cytokines, and particularly tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), are implicated in the pathogenesis of both atherosclerosis and RA, and also involved in the development of the impaired lipid profile detected in active RA. Although anti-TNF-α agents have been proven effective in controlling joint damage and systemic inflammation, controversy remains about the effect of these drugs on the lipid profile; therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the effect of anti-TNF-α treatment, in combination with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and corticosteroid therapy, on the lipid profile of patients with active RA. Our data suggest that the combination anti-TNF-α/DMARDs/steroids do not significantly interfere with the lipid profile of RA patients. However, analysis of clinical response data showed that patients achieving low disease activity or remission seem to have a protective lipid profile, suggesting that better control of inflammation and disease activity can affect lipid metabolism. The available evidence indicates that high inflammation interferes with lipid metabolism, whereas good control of the chronic inflammatory state may positively influence the lipid profile and cardiovascular risk. Low cholesterol levels at baseline could predict a favorable outcome with anti-TNF-α treatment, but these data need to be confirmed by large prospective studies with long-term follow-up.

Efficacy and safety of rituximab with and without methotrexate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis patients: results from the GISEA register.

INTRODUCTION: Rituximab (RTX) is a monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in association with methotrexate (MTX). OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of RTX-MTX combination therapy compared with RTX alone in the treatment of RA. METHODS: We analyzed data from a prospective cohort study, the Italian biologic register GISEA, to investigate the efficacy and safety of rituximab. Moreover, the adverse events (AE) and the causes of discontinuation therapy were analyzed. RESULTS: We identified 338 RA patients, 162 treated with RTX and 176 with RTX-MTX. After 52 and 104 weeks of therapy the disease activity score in 28 joints and the Health Assessment Questionnaire Score were available in 168 patients (78 with RTX-MTX and 60 with RTX alone), showing significant reduction without differences among the two groups. AE were reported in 142 patients (42%), for a total of 368 recorded side effects. The majority (90.5%) of AE were mild to moderate in severity. Comparable percentages of severe AE were reported in the 2 groups (9.9% for RTX alone and 9.3% for RTX+MTX). A poor disease control was observed in 14.2% and 13.5% of patients treated with RTX+MTX and RTX, respectively; while 12 patients (4.5% in RTX+MTX, and 2.5% in RTX group) suspended therapy for AE. CONCLUSIONS: RTX showed a good efficacy and safety profile in the real-life management of RA patients regardless of the association with MTX.

Old and new antirheumatic drugs and the risk of hepatotoxicity.

Given the high prevalence of the use of medications in daily practice and the large number of people taking antirheumatic agents, the risk of drug-drug interactions and of hepatotoxicity is of concern. Both old and new compounds show such a risk. Nonsteroidal antinflammatory drugs are widely used drugs with potential adverse hepatic reactions. Nonsteroidal antinflammatory drugs are responsible for an important aliquot of transaminase elevation in the general population. Genetic susceptibility to diclofenac hepatotoxicity has promoted the knowledge about drug-specific, class-specific reactions. Some drugs (sulfasalazine, azathioprine, and leflunomide) may cause acute liver injury, whereas other compounds (methotrexate) may cause chronic liver damage as the result of the interaction among drug, host and environmental factors. The tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitor, infliximab, is associated with typical drug-induced autoimmune hepatitis. Also, the other biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs are not free of potential hepatotoxicity. The diagnosis of drug-induced liver injury follows the exclusion of other causes, involves a temporal relationship between drug exposure and adverse event, and should consider the potential participation of the underlying rheumatic disease to event occurrence. This article also includes data regarding hepatotoxicity from our outclinic patients receiving biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.

Intentional etanercept use during pregnancy for maintenance of remission in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: Rheumatoid arthritis is associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. TNF inhibitors are effective in the treatment of signs and symptoms of the disease although their safety during pregnancy is debated. METHODS: Two cases of women with rheumatoid arthritis in complete remission of the disease with etanercept who decided to continue the therapy throughout their pregnancy are presented. A longitudinal evaluation of the disease activity showed a satisfactory control and good pregnancy outcomes were obtained. A flare of the disease after delivery was not observed. CONCLUSIONS: Etanercept seems to be safe during pregnancy and lactation. A good control of the activity of the disease was reported throughout the pregnancy and during puerperium, when a reactivation of rheumatoid arthritis is often observed.