Association of adipokines with rheumatic disease activity indexes and periodontal disease in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis and their first-degree relatives.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the adipokine levels in early rheumatoid arthritis (eRA) and first-degree relatives (FDR) of patients with RA and establish their association with rheumatic disease activity and periodontal variables. METHOD: A cross-sectional study with eRA patients, FDR and a healthy population. Adipokine levels, clinical, joint radiological indexes and periodontal variables were evaluated. A descriptive, bivariate analysis was performed based on the adipokine levels by χ2 , Fisher's test and Mann-Whitney U test. A logistic regression was made for associations. RESULTS: High leptin levels were associated with the diagnosis of eRA (odds ratio [OR] = 2.79; 95% CI 1.54-5.07). Early rheumatoid arthritis with high adiponectin levels was less likely to have Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire score >3, body mass index (BMI) >25 and Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 score >12 (OR = 0.16; 95% CI 0.03-0.72). Early rheumatoid arthritis was more likely to present high leptin and interleukin (IL)6 levels with low adiponectin simultaneously (OR = 5.03; 95% CI 1.05-24.0). High leptin levels were associated with the FDR adjusted for IgG2 Porphyromonas gingivalis, swollen joints, P gingivalis and low IL6 (OR = 2.57; 95% CI 1.14-5.95). CONCLUSION: High adipokine levels in eRA may modulate the disease activity. Having more than 1 adipokine at high serum levels is associated with increased disability, disease activity and BMI, indicating that RA is controlled by adiponectin levels in the early stages of the disease. High leptin levels, presence of P gingivalis and swollen joints may be the factors associated with the development of RA in FDR.

Report from the Latin American Spondyloarthritis Society for Education and Research in Immunology and Medicine organization 2012 workshop.

The first annual meeting of the Latin American Spondyloarthritis Society for Education and Research in Immunology and Medicine (LASSERIM) was held in Bogotá, Colombia, in September 2012 and was attended by key opinion leaders, researchers, and rheumatologists. The meeting included presentations and discussions from renowned speakers during 2 days and a coaching leadership exercise led by an expert in the field followed by an open forum. Two groups defined a priori discussed the establishment of a professional network and organization to be involved in the identification, assessment, and effective resolution of health care issues in Latin America.A broad spectrum of topics were discussed but focused on the following: pharmacoeconomics in general rheumatology, spondyloarthritis and chronic back pain, therapeutic interventions in rheumatoid arthritis, ultrasonography in spondyloarthritis, impact of social media in medicine and global trends in leadership, quality of life, and innovation. A special workshop on coaching in health care and coaching as a tool to implement LASSERIM goals was part of the 2-day conference.LASSERIM will be working in the future on education, research, and innovation in the field of rheumatology and immunology. A special focus will be on spondyloarthritis, by promoting research, open discussions, and by conducting carefully planned research studies to impact on the quality of life of patients and doctors from Latin American countries.

Niveles de antioxidantes como parametro de actividad inflamatoria en la artritis reumatoidea / Antioxidants levels and rheumatoid arthritis

La artritis reumatoidea (AR) es una enfermedad sistémica caracterizada por la inflamación crónica y simétrica de las articulaciones. Los radicales libres son moléculas que podrían intervenir en el proceso inflamatorio articular y sistémico. El sistema antioxidante es un conjunto de sustancias que impiden la formación de radicales libres. Objetivo: determinar la actividad de dos sustancias antioxidantes, la glutatión peroxidasa (GpX) y la superóxido dismutasa (SOD) en pacientes con AR y en controles sanos. Material y métodos: se incluyeron 60 individuos de ambos sexos entre 30 y 60 años, divididos en tres grupos de 20 personas, uno constituido por pacientes con AR activa, otro por pacientes con AR en remisión (según los criterios de remisión de Pinals) y el tercero por controles sanos apareados por sexo y edad con el grupo de pacientes con AR activa. En los dos grupos de pacientes con AR se realizó un recuento de articulaciones inflamadas utilizando el índice articular de Thompson (0= ninguna articulación inflamada; 534= puntaje máximo de inflamación). Se midieron la proteína C reactiva (POR) y la velocidad de sedimentación globular (VSG) en todos los sujetos del estudio. Se realizó la medición en sangre total de SOD (rango normal =164-240 U/ml) y de GpX (rango normal = 4170-10881 U/L) en los tres grupos. Método estadístico: se calcularon los valores p de la prueba t de diferencias de medias poblacionales entre los tres grupos para la SOD, la GpX, la PCR y la VSG. Resultados: el puntaje promedio del índice de Thompson en los pacientes con AR activa fue de 177.5 y en el grupo en remisión fue de 5.5. El nivel promedio de GpX en los individuos sanos (X=6991.5 U/L) y en los pacientes con AR en remisión (X=5703.4 U/L) se encontró dentro de los valores de referencia. En el grupo de AR activa se encontró disminuido de manera significativa (X=2847 U/L) si se compara con el grupo de AR en remisión (p=0.008) y con el de controles sanos (p=4.7 x 105). Para la SOD se encontraron resultados similares en el grupo de sanos (X=212.5 U/ml) y el grupo de pacientes en remisión (205.6 U/ml...