Country-level socioeconomic status relates geographical latitude to the onset of RA: a worldwide cross-sectional analysis in the METEOR registry
Conclusions
Patients living closer to the equator get RA at a younger age. This latitude gradient was not explained by individual patient characteristics, but rather by countries’ socioeconomic status, providing a direct link between countries’ level of welfare and the clinical onset of RA. (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Bergstra, S. A., Sepriano, A., Chopra, A., Winchow, L.-L., Vega-Morales, D., Salomon-Escoto, K., Matthijssen, X. M. E., Landewe, R. B. Tags: ARD, Rheumatoid arthritis Source Type: research
ChatGPT: when artificial intelligence replaces the rheumatologist in medical writing
In this editorial we discuss the place of artificial intelligence (AI) in the writing of scientific articles and especially editorials. We asked chatGPT « to write an editorial for Annals of Rheumatic Diseases about how AI may replace the rheumatologist in editorial writing ». chatGPT's response is diplomatic and describes AI as a tool to help the rheumatologist but not replace him. AI is already used in medicine, especially in image analysis, but the domains are infinite and it is possible that AI could quickly help or replace rheumatologists in the writing of scientific articles. We discuss the ethical aspect...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Verhoeven, F., Wendling, D., Prati, C. Tags: Open access, ARD Viewpoint Source Type: research
Pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus: risks, mechanisms and therapeutic targets
Research elucidating the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has defined two critical families of mediators, type I interferon (IFN-I) and autoantibodies targeting nucleic acids and nucleic acid-binding proteins, as fundamental contributors to the disease. On the fertile background of significant genetic risk, a triggering stimulus, perhaps microbial, induces IFN-I, autoantibody production or most likely both. When innate and adaptive immune system cells are engaged and collaborate in the autoimmune response, clinical SLE can develop. This review describes recent data from genetic analyses of patients with S...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Crow, M. K. Tags: Editor's choice, ARD Reviews Source Type: research
Response to: Where are the women 'Heroes and Pillars of Rheumatology?
The comment on a gender imbalance in the ‘Heroes and Pillars of Rheumatology’ section of the Annals by Dalbeth and Neogi1 is highly appreciated. This comment provides yet another occasion to focus the readers’ and potential authors’ attention on the important opportunity to bring historic persons who have contributed immensely to the development of rheumatology to the forefront. As noted originally,2 the idea of this section was not to highlight persons who are still active. These persons continue to influence rheumatology with their research activities, and the great list of names provided by Drs. ...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Smolen, J. S. Tags: ARD Correspondence response Source Type: research
Where are the women 'Heroes and Pillars of Rheumatology?
We have enjoyed reading the ‘Heroes and Pillars of Rheumatology’ section of Ann Rheum Dis which was introduced in 2018 to highlight ‘persons or scientific innovations of the past that were pivotal in advancing our discipline’.1 While we acknowledge the recognition of Dr Barbara Ansell CBE, FRCP, FRCS, FRCPCH in the June 2019 issue,2 we note that the remaining 14 ‘Heroes’ profiled to date3 have been men. We recognise that, historically, opportunities for women in medicine were limited. However, there are many women who have made ground-breaking contributions to the field of rheumatology. ...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Dalbeth, N., Neogi, T. Tags: ARD Correspondence Source Type: research
Response to: Correspondence on '2022 American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology classification criteria for granulomatosis with polyangiitis by Joanna C Robson et al and '2022 American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology classification criteria for microscopic polyangiitis by Pimentel-Quiroz et al
We read the comments by Pimentel-Quiroz et al with interest1 and agree it is important to test the performance characteristics of the 2022 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for the ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV) in different populations around the world.2–4 These efforts are needed to understand whether regional differences in disease expression and clinical evaluation impact the utility of the new criteria in specific populations. The new classification criteria for AAV were developed within the largest observational cohort ever assembled in vasculitis,5 comprised of 4994 patients with different forms of vasculi...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Grayson, P. C., Robson, J. C., Suppiah, R., Ponte, C., Watts, R. A., Luqmani, R. A., Merkel, P. A. Tags: ARD Correspondence response Source Type: research
Correspondence on '2022 American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology classification criteria for granulomatosis with polyangiitis by Joanna C Robson et al and '2022 American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology classification criteria for microscopic polyangiitis
The new classification criteria for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) have been eagerly anticipated since the publication of the provisional criteria in 20171 and thus they are quite welcomed.2 3 Limitations of the previous criteria used for these conditions include the low sensitivity of the 1990 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria, the fact that the patient’s ANCA status had not been included, that there were no previous classification criteria for microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and the fact that the number of criteria rather than a weighted criteri...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Pimentel-Quiroz, V. R., Ugarte-Gil, M. F., Alarcon, G. S. Tags: ARD Correspondence Source Type: research
Response to: Correspondence on 'Call for action in ANCA-associated vasculitis and lupus nephritis: promises and challenges of SGLT-2 inhibitors by Patoulias
We thank our colleague Dr Patoulias1 for pointing out that sodium glucose transporter (SGLT)-2 inhibition (SGLT-2i) could mediate nephroprotection in patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) via specific mechanisms within the tubular cell compartment independent of the presence of diabetes mellitus.2 As discussed by Dr Patoulias, kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) is affected by SGLT-2i correlating with improvements in albuminuria, a hallmark of chronic kidney damage. KIM-1, however, is not only a mere marker of tubular injury, but it is actively involved in diverse pathogenic actions. Hence, i...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Säemann, M., Kronbichler, A. Tags: ARD Correspondence response Source Type: research
Correspondence on 'Call for action in ANCA-associated vasculitis and lupus nephritis: promises and challenges of SGLT-2 inhibitors
Säemann and Kronbichler provided in their published article an excellent perspective on the potential place of sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors in the treatment armamentarium against antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-associated vasculitis and lupus nephritis (LN).1 Besides the described mechanisms of action, it seems that their effect against tubular damage and atrophy could also be crucial for the mediated nephroprotection in LN. It has been previously shown that interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy are strongly associated with the risk for progression to end-stage renal dis...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Patoulias, D. Tags: ARD Correspondence Source Type: research
Response to: Correspondence on "European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) SLE classification criteria item performance" by Bossuyt et al
In their letter,1 Drs Bossuyt and Meroni have used an elegant and creative approach to make use of the data on antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria project for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) .2 They point out that the individual ANA titre has implications for the likelihood ratio (LR) of a diagnosis of SLE. This interpretation concludes that the LR for 1:160 is just below 1 (0.94) and drops to clearly below 1 with lower titres, that is, 0.17 at 1:80, 0.08 at 1:40 and 0.02 if negative. This means that lower titre AN...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Aringer, M., Costenbader, K., Leuchten, N., Dörner, T., Johnson, S. R. Tags: ARD Correspondence response Source Type: research
Correspondence on "European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) SLE classification criteria item performance"
In this study, ANA with titre ≥1:80 were highly sensitive (99.5%), but only 19.4% specific for SLE.2 As ANA are an entry criterion for the 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria, the low specificity of ANA for SLE does... (Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Bossuyt, X., Fierz, W., Meroni, P. L. Tags: ARD Correspondence Source Type: research
Response to: Correspondence on "Update on the diagnosis and management of systemic lupus erythematosus" by Zhou et al
We thank Zhou et al for their interest in our manuscript and their insightful comments.1 In figure 4 of our manuscript (Diagnostic approach to a patient with suspected systemic lupus erythematosus and the use of classification criteria to aid clinical diagnosis), we propose an algorithm to aid clinical diagnosis, especially in patients not fulfilling the classification criteria.2 As opposed to classification, diagnosis by definition may include the notion of probability (ie, possible systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)). Moreover, as with any set of criteria, this algorithm presupposes that alternative or competing diagnose...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Fanouriakis, A., Tziolos, N., Bertsias, G., Boumpas, D. T. Tags: ARD Correspondence response Source Type: research
Correspondence on "Update on the diagnosis and management of systemic lupus erythematosus"
This review1 provided a comprehensive update on recent developments in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and proposed several new viewpoints. In terms of diagnosis, the authors were the first to put forward two types of clinical SLE, in addition to classified SLE. Particularly, in the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology score <10 category in figure 4, the authors suggested that an immunological score of ≥2 together with a clinical score of ≥6 could be regarded as clinical SLE. Therefore, a patient with any joint involvement (six points) and positive antiphospholipid antibod...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Zhou, Z., You, Y., Wang, F., Sun, Y., Teng, J., Liu, H., Cheng, X., Su, Y., Shi, H., Yang, C., Ye, J. Tags: ARD Correspondence Source Type: research
Response to: Correspondence on "New EULAR/ACR 2019 SLE classification criteria: defining ominosity in SLE" by Pons-Estel et al
We thank Dr Pons-Estel and colleagues1 for their interest in our2 paper proposing that a score of 20 or more in the 2019 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology (EULAR/ACR) classification criteria3 4 predicts more severe disease activity in the following 5 years after the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) classification.2 Pons-Estel et al1 demonstrated that 98 (15.31%) patients who were classified by 1982/1997 ACR criteria, but not classified as SLE with the 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria, having a score of less than 10 points, accrued less damage compared with those who had a score of ...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Whittall-Garcia, L., Gladman, D. D., Urowitz, M., Su, J., Touma, Z., Johnson, S. R. Tags: ARD Correspondence response Source Type: research
Correspondence on "New EULAR/ACR 2019 SLE classification criteria: defining ominosity in SLE"
We read with interest the report by Whittall Garcia et al1 on ominosity, a proxy for the threatening role of the 2019 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Classification Criteria Score; in this article, the authors propose that a score of ≥20 predicts disease severity within 5 years of disease diagnosis. We would like to congratulate the authors for their novel approach in using these criteria as predictors. In their study, the authors included two cohorts: (1) a single-centre inception cohort that included 867 patients with SLE with a mean ...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Pons-Estel, G. J., Ugarte-Gil, M. F., Harvey, G. B., Pons-Estel, B. A., Alarcon, G. S. Tags: ARD Correspondence Source Type: research
