OBJECTIVES To evaluate clinical remission with subcutaneous abatacept plus methotrexate (MTX) and abatacept monotherapy at 12 months in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and maintenance of remission following the rapid withdrawal of all RA treatment. METHODS In the Assessing Very Early Rheumatoid arthritis Treatment phase 3b trial, patients with early active RA were randomised to...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether molecular remission defined by a multi-biomarker disease activity (MBDA) score predicts a reduced risk of joint damage progression, and whether the MBDA score can augment existing classifications of remission. METHODS The study examined 271 visits for 163 RA patients in the Leiden Early Arthritis Cohort. The MBDA score and other variables from each visit were e...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this 12-week Phase IIb study was to assess the efficacy and safety of olokizumab (OKZ), a humanised anti-IL6 monoclonal antibody, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with moderate-to-severe disease activity who had previously failed tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor therapy. The dose-exposure-response relationship for OKZ was also investigated. METHODS Patien...

To cite: Sandberg MEC, Bengtsson C, Källberg H, et al. Ann Rheum Dis Published Online First: [please include Day Month Year] doi:10.1136/ annrheumdis-2013-205094 ABSTRACT Aim To investigate whether overweight/obesity at diagnosis affects the chances of decrease in disease activity and pain in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Method We investigated incident RA cases from the population-based Epi...

INTRODUCTION To examine the effects of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blocking therapy on the levels of early mitochondrial genome alterations and oxidative stress. METHODS Eighteen inflammatory arthritis patients underwent synovial tissue oxygen (tpO(2)) measurements and clinical assessment of disease activity (DAS28-CRP) at baseline (T0) and three months (T3) after starting biologic therapy. ...

BACKGROUND In 2004, we initiated an inception cohort of patients with recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Hand function was incorporated into evaluations from 2014 onward. The objectives were to examine hand function in our cohort, compare hand function with function in healthy controls and determine the factors associated with impaired function. METHODS From February 2014 to June 2015, 1...

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes and drug/administration costs of treatment with tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) agents in US veterans with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) initiating TNFi therapy. The analysis compared patients initiating and continuing a single TNFi with patients who subsequently switched to a different TNFi. METHODS Data from patient...

OBJECTIVES To compare the effectiveness of rituximab versus an alternative tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor (TNFi) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with an inadequate response to one previous TNFi. METHODS SWITCH-RA was a prospective, global, observational, real-life study. Patients non-responsive or intolerant to a single TNFi were enrolled ≤4 weeks after starting rituximab o...

OBJECTIVES Our aim was to conduct a national audit assessing the impact and experience of early management of inflammatory arthritis by English and Welsh rheumatology units. The audit enables rheumatology services to measure for the first time their performance, patient outcomes and experience, benchmarked to regional and national comparators. METHODS All individuals >16 years of age presenti...

UNLABELLED The inability to match rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with the anti-cytokine agent most efficacious for them is a major hindrance to patients’ speedy recovery and to the clinical use of anti-cytokine therapy. Identifying predictive biomarkers that can assist in matching RA patients with more suitable anti-cytokine treatment was our aim in this report. The sample consisted of 138 ...