August 2024 to November 2024
Authors: Halbert Hernández Negrin and Magda Osipyan
Does regression of skin thickening predict improvement of internal organ involvement and survival in patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis? A EUSTAR analysis
Wyss et al. (10.1186/s13075-024-03418-2) investigated whether an improvement in skin fibrosis among patients in the EUSTAR cohort with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) predicts lower progression of lung, renal, cardiac and gastrointestinal manifestations and better survival rate. Out of 1,257 included patients with baseline modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) ≥7, 883 (70.2%) demonstrated no skin changes during 12±3 months follow-up, skin fibrosis of 282 (22.4%) was regressive, and of 92 (7.3%) was progressive. Regressive skin was associated with significantly reduced probability of lung progression and better survival at follow-up.
Increased serum level of IL-6 predicts poor prognosis in anti-MDA5-positive dermatomyositis with rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease
Niu et al. (10.1186/s13075-024-03415-5) investigated the significance of serum cytokine profiles and peripheral lymphocytes as predictors of the prognosis of anti-MDA5-positive dermatomyositis (DM) with rapidly-progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD). This retrospective study of two cohorts that included 168 patients demonstrated that increased level of serum IL-6 (≥ 13.41pg/mL) , severe lymphopenia and elevated LDH were promising predictors of 6-month all-cause mortality and the occurrence of RP-ILD.
Correlation between circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA content and severity of knee degeneration in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study
Wu et al. (10.1186/s13075-024-03438-y) compared the levels of circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA (ccf-mtDNA) as both an endogenous damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecule and as a potential biomarker for inflammation. They compared 60 patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) with healthy controls (HC) matched for age, sex and body mass index (BMI). The study’s findings showed that plasma ccf-mtDNA was highly expressed in patients with KOA compared with HC. Within the KOA group, levels were significantly associated with the severity of KOA.
Halbert Hernández Negrin
Halbert is an internist, with a Master’s in Autoimmune Diseases from the University of Barcelona. He is currently a rheumatology resident at the Regional University Hospital of Malaga and a PhD student at the University of Malaga. His research interests focus on epidemiological and translational research in systemic autoimmune diseases, specifically in SLE. He is currently collaborating in the European 3TR SLE Study and in the International Multicentre Registry of patients with monogenic and polygenic autoinflammatory diseases (AIDA Project). He is a member of the European Lupus Society and a predoctoral fellow of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Halbert is a member of the Newsletter sub-committee.
Magda Osipyan
Magda is a rheumatologist at Vardanants Medical Centre for Innovative Medicine and Yerevan State Medical University, Yerevan, Armenia. Her research interests include SLE, Behcet’s disease and systemic sclerosis. Magda is secretary of the Armenian Rheumatological Association and a member of the EMEUNET Visibility and Global Affairs sub-committee.