Baricitinib further enhances disease-modifying effects by uncoupling the link between disease activity and joint structural progression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Lopez-Romero P, de la Torre I, Haladyj E, Aletaha D, Smolen JS.
Ann Rheum Dis. 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221323

Baricitinib reduces structural damage progression versus placebo with background MTX and/or MTX, even in patients with moderate or high disease activity. In patients with RA, TNFi, IL-6i and rituximab have been shown to uncouple the link between disease activity and radiographic progression such that patients are protected from structural damage progression even if remission/low disease activity is not achieved. As such, Lopez-Romero, et al. aimed to evaluate if baricitinib further enhances di...

Efficacy and safety of filgotinib in methotrexate-naive patients with rheumatoid arthritis with poor prognostic factors: post hoc analysis of FINCH 3

Aletaha D, Westhovens R, Gaujoux-Viala C, Adami G, Matsumoto A, Bird P, Messina OD, Buch MH, Bartok B, Yin Z, Guo Y, Hendrikx T, Burmester GR.
RMD Open. 2021;7(2):e001621.

Post hoc analysis of the phase III FINCH study shows that filgotinib may be an alternative treatment option for patients with RA who have poor prognostic factors (PPFs), especially those not responding to standard treatment such as methotrexate (MTX). PPFs are associated with severe disease and risk for disease progression in patients with RA. Consequently, the 2019 EULAR management guidelines for RA recommend early treatment escalation for patients with PPFs who have inadequate response to fir...

Puntos a se Considerar para el tratamiento de Enfermedades Inflamatórias Inmunomediadas con Inhibidores de la Quinasa Janus: Una Declaración de Consenso

Nash P, Kerschbaumer A, Dorner T, Dougados M, Fleischmann RM, Geissler K, McInnes I, Pope JE, van der Heijde D, Stoffer-Marx M, Takeuchi T, Trauner M, Winthrop KL, de Wit M, Aletaha D, Baraliakos X, Boehncke W-H, Emery P, Isaacs JD, Kremer J, Lee EB, et al.
2021 Jan;80(1):71-87. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-218398. Epub 2020 Nov 6.

JAKi are approved in various immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. With five JAKi now licensed, this paper reviews key points to consider in their use to assist clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders once the decision is made to commence JAKi. The consensus was developed by a Steering Committee and an expanded Task Force using EULAR standard operating procedures. The committee included patients as well as experts in rheumatology, gastroenterology, haematology, dermatology, and infectious ...

Keywords: JAK, Efficacy

Evaluation of Newly Proposed Remission Cut-points for Disease Activity Score in 28 Joints (DAS28) in Rheumatoid Arthritis upon IL-6 Pathway Inhibition

Schoels M, Alasti F, Smolen JS and Aletaha D.
Arthritis Res Ther. 2017 Jul 4;19(1):155. doi: 10.1186/s13075-017-1346-5

DAS28 is not currently included in the joint remission definitions of the ACR and the EULAR because its formula is disproportionately influenced by Acute Phase Response (APR). IL-6 pathway blockers or JAK inhibitors greatly reduce APR, causing patients to be classed as in DAS28 remission despite still having multiple swollen joints. To make DAS28 remission criteria more stringent, the alternative cut-points of <1.9 and <2.2 for CRP and ESR, respectively, have been proposed. This study q...

Efficacy and Safety of Sirukumab in Patients with Active Rheumatoid Arthritis Refractory to Anti-TNF Therapy (SIRROUND-T): A Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-group, Multinational, Phase 3 Study

Aletaha D, Bingham CO 3rd, Tanaka Y, Agarwal P, Kurrasch R, Tak PP and Popik S.
Lancet 2017;pii:S0140-6736(17)30401-4

In this Phase 3 multicentre, randomised controlled trial in patients with active RA who were refractory or intolerant to previous biological treatment with at least one TNF inhibitor, sirukumab 50 mg every four weeks (Q4W) or 100 mg every two weeks (Q2W) was well tolerated and significantly improved signs and symptoms of disease. Patients were randomised 1:1:1 to placebo (n=294), sirukumab 50 mg Q4W (n=292) or sirukumab 100 mg Q2W (n=292), while continuing any concomitant DMARDs. Of the 878 ran...

Recomendaciones de la EULAR para el manejo de la artritis reumatoide con medicamentos antirreumáticos modificadores de la enfermedad sintéticos y biológicos: actualización 2013

Smolen JS, Landewé R, Breedveld FC, Buch M, Burmester G, Dougados M, Emery P, Gaujoux-Viala C, Gossec L, Nam J, Ramiro S, Winthrop K, de Wit M, Aletaha D, Betteridge N, Bijlsma JWJ, Boers M, Butterger.
Ann Rheum Dis. 2013 doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204573

The 2010 EULAR recommendations represented a significant step forward in the management of rheumatoid arthritis, and they have been widely adopted across the world. However, in the rapidly evolving world of rheumatology, it was recognised that a substantial amount of new evidence has accumulated, both on agents approved at that time as well as data on new compounds that have become available over the last 3–4 years. This motivated EULAR to form an international task force to update their r...

Keywords: Cytokine Signalling, Clinical