BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The seasonal effect on the relapse of rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthropathies is still unclear. To assess the seasonal distribution of relapse onset in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthropathy (SpA) and its association with solar factors. METHODS The monthly distribution of relapse onsets during the years 1998-2000 was retrospectively chart reviewed in...

OBJECTIVE Anti-TNF-α agents are remarkably effective in the treatment of SpAs. However, 30% of patients withdraw from anti-TNF-α agents yearly because of inadequate efficacy or side effects. The objective of this study was to assess in current practice the response to a second and a third anti-TNF-α. METHODS Retrospectively, all records of patients who had received at least two anti-TNF-α age...

Although the therapeutic uses of tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonists have added a highly effective treatment of ankylosing spondylitis and associated spondyloarthropathies, they are associated with many untoward effects. We describe a Saudi patient with ankylosing spondylitis who developed severe psoriatic lesions in treatment with infliximab. He had no personal, or family history of psoria...

We assessed the prevalence of HLA-B27 among ethnic Indonesian and Indonesian Chinese patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or related spondyloarthropathies, and also among healthy controls. HLA-B27 was found in 23 (62.2%) of 37 Chinese patients and 4% of 176 Chinese healthy controls (p < 0.001). In contrasts only 2 (8.3%) of 24 native Indonesian patients and 13 (9%) of 145 healthy controls ...

BACKGROUND The clinical effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) is widely debated because of a lack of clinical trials. The internet may provide an effective and economical approach for undertaking randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of low-risk interventions. We investigated whether the internet could be used to perform an internet-based RCT of a CAM fulfilling the revi...

Psoriatic arthritis is defined as inflammatory arthritis occurring in patients with psoriasis and is classified as a seronegative spondyloarthropathy associated with human leukocyte antigen B27. Between 25 and 35% of patients with psoriasis go on to develop psoriatic arthritis during the course of their disease. Given that the skin is affected before the joints in most cases, the dermatologist ...

Inflammatory arthritides developing after a distant infection have so far been called reactive or postinfectious, quite often depending on the microbial trigger and/or HLA-B27 status of the patient. For clarity, it is proposed that they all should be called reactive arthritis, which, according to the trigger, occurs as an HLA-B27 associated or non-associated form. In addition to the causative a...

IL-17A both directly induces and synergizes with other cytokines to promote autoimmune tissue inflammation. Secukinumab and ixekizumab are monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that inhibit interleukin-17A. These two agents were recently approved for treatment of psoriasis, and secukinumab is also approved for treatment of two spondyloarthropathies, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

Two more cases of B27 associated peripheral arthritis triggered by physical injury are reported. One patient developed arthritis after a minor insult and in the other Reiter's syndrome occurred after the injury. Possibly, trauma causes release of self antigens from the injured joints.