ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Rheumatologists and patients have struggled with a lack of new therapies for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind the disease helps shed light on potential treatments. That was the theme of the ACR Convergence session State of the Art: Lupus—The Future Is Now, led by Peggy…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Held Nov. 5–9, the ACR’s first fully virtual annual meeting is a wrap, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to catch the highlights. Dozens of research abstracts on various aspects of lupus were presented during the fully virtual event, and David S. Pisetsky, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and immunology at Duke…
In light of the release of the ACR’s new gout guideline, it’s not surprising that 50 abstracts of studies on various aspects of gout were accepted at ACR Convergence 2020. Here, we highlight just a few:
Early results in a phase 2 trial are finding that adding a TNF blocker to other treatment could greatly lower the risk of serious complications during pregnancy for women who have antiphospholipid syndrome with lupus anticoagulant.
From pain management to arthroplasty, African American patients with OA and RA experience worse outcomes than white patients. But the reasons for these health disparities are difficult to parse from socioeconomic and cultural factors.
ACR Convergence 2020—In May 2020, the ACR published its updated guideline for the management of gout.1 It followed on the heels of a 2017 gout guideline published by the American College of Physicians.2 Although the guidelines provide similar recommendations on the treatment of acute gout, they differ importantly in the use of uric acid-lowering therapy…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—The definition of cell type depends increasingly on a cell’s molecular features. On Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, Alex Kuo, PhD, senior scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif., described six technologies that are relatively mature and can be used for rheumatic disease research: Rapidly developing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq); Cellular indexing…
Roberto Caricchio, MD, discusses what trials of repurposed rheumatology drugs to treat COVID-19 cytokine storm have shown so far.
Certain nutrients or dietary patterns may affect inflammation and rheumatic disease risk in certain populations. Recommended nutrients include omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, poultry or nuts. Following a Mediterranean or standard Western diet may affect RA risk too.
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Recent research findings suggest rheumatologists need to take a closer look at two gold standard autoantibodies used to diagnose seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA)—rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), according to Caroline Grönwall, PhD, and Miriam Shelef, MD, PhD, who discussed Antibodies in RA: Beyond Citrullination & Back to Rheumatoid Factor at…