Assessing structural damage progression in psoriatic arthritis and its role as an outcome in research.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an immune-mediated, clinically heterogeneous disease characterized by arthritis, enthesitis, dactylitis, spondylitis, and psoriasis of the skin and nails. Persistent articular inflammation in patients with PsA can lead to structural damage, which can result in reduced physical function and quality of life. Structural damage can occur rapidly, and irreversible joint damage may be observed if patients are not treated promptly and appropriately. Therefore, evaluating therapeutic agents for their ability to inhibit structural progression has become increasingly important, with radiographic progression becoming a key efficacy outcome in clinical trials in PsA. Here, we review how structural damage and progression are assessed in clinical trials and the use of radiographic progression as a study outcome. We also discuss possible limitations in the current assessment of radiographic progression as well as areas of research that may improve the assessment of structural damage in clinical trials of PsA

Importance of cumulative exposure to elevated cholesterol and blood pressure in development of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease in systemic lupus erythematosus: a prospective proof-of-concept cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have shown that traditional risk factors such as hypercholesterolemia and hypertension account for only a small proportion of the dramatically increased risk of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, in these studies, exposure to risk factors was measured only at baseline. In this study, our objective was to compare measures of cumulative exposure with remote and recent values for each of total cholesterol (TC), systolic (SBP), and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure in terms of ability to quantify risk of atherosclerotic CAD in patients with SLE. METHODS: Patients in the Toronto lupus cohort had TC and BP measured at each clinic visit and were followed up prospectively for the occurrence of CAD. For each patient, arithmetic mean, time-adjusted mean (AM) and area-under-the-curve (AUC) were calculated for serial TC, SBP, and DBP measurements. Proportional hazards regression models were used to compare these summary measures with recent and first-available ("remote") measurements in terms of ability to quantify risk of CAD events, defined as myocardial infarction, angina, or sudden cardiac death. RESULTS: The 991 patients had a mean ± SD of 19 ± 19 TC measurements per patient. Over a follow-up of 6.7 ± 6.4 years, 86 CAD events occurred; although remote TC was not significantly predictive of CAD, mean and AM TC were more strongly predictive (hazard ratio (HR) 2.07; P = 0.003) than recent TC (HR 1.86, P = 0.001). AUC TC was not predictive of CAD. A similar pattern was seen for DBP and SBP. Older age, male sex, higher baseline and recent disease activity score, and corticosteroid use also increased CAD risk, whereas antimalarials were protective. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to the population-based Framingham model, first-available TC and BP are not predictive of CAD among patients with SLE, in whom measures reflecting cumulative exposure over time are better able to quantify CAD risk. This is an important consideration in future studies of dynamic risk factors for CAD in a chronic relapsing-remitting disease such as SLE. Our findings also underpin the importance of adequate control of SLE disease activity while minimizing corticosteroid use, and highlight the cardioprotective effect of antimalarials

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ABSTRACT. The 2012 Annual Meeting of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) was held in June 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden, and attended by rheumatologists, dermatologists, and representatives of biopharmaceutical companies and patient groups from around the world. In this Prologue we introduce discussions that were held among meeting attendees. Prior to the 2012 meeting, 2 GRAPPA members organized a Fellows Symposium adjacent to the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology meeting in Verona, where they discussed comorbidities and treatments of patients with psoriasis. The 2012 GRAPPA meeting began with a trainee symposium, where 30 rheumatology fellows and dermatology residents presented their research work. Other presentations and discussions included a review of arthritis mutilans; dermatology issues including screening tools for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and the instruments to measure psoriasis severity; cardiovascular and other comorbidities of psoriasis and PsA; development of criteria to define inflammatory arthritis, enthesitis, dactylitis, and spondylitis; distinctions between peripheral spondyloarthritis and PsA; the status of an ultrasound outcome measure for dactylitis; and updates on several GRAPPA projects, including a study of biomarkers to predict structural damage in PsA, the ongoing video project, and several education initiatives

Inhibition of interleukin-17 in patients with oligoarticular psoriatic arthritis

Introduction: This study evaluated the efficacy of the interleukin-17A inhibitor secukinumab in patients with oligoarticular psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods: A total of 84 patients with oligoarticular PsA, defined as 1–4 tender joints and 1–4 swollen joints, were pooled from the FUTURE 2–5 and MAXIMISE trials (NCT01752634, NCT01989468, NCT02294227, NCT02404350, and NCT02721966). Patients were grouped by treatment received at week 12 (secukinumab 300 mg, secukinumab 150 mg, or placebo) and week 52 (any secukinumab 300 mg or any secukinumab 150 mg). Efficacy was assessed by the proportion of patients achieving selected clinical outcomes. The predictors of Disease Activity index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA) responses at weeks 12 and 52 were identified by logistic regression analysis. Results: Secukinumab treatment resulted in greater achievement of DAPSA-based low disease activity (LDA), DAPSA-based remission (REM), DAPSA50, and DAPSA75 than placebo at week 12, with improvements sustained or further increased through week 52. LDA or REM was achieved at week 52 by more than 90% of patients who received either secukinumab dose, although secukinumab 300 mg resulted in the highest achievement of the stringent DAPSA75 and DAPSA REM outcomes. At week 12, younger age was associated with DAPSA LDA or REM and DAPSA50, while lower baseline swollen joint count was associated with DAPSA REM. No predictors were identified at week 52. The safety profile was consistent with the full study populations. Conclusion: Secukinumab demonstrated efficacy vs placebo across several outcome measures in patients with oligoarticular PsA at week 12, with sustained or improved responses through week 52

Prediction and benefits of minimal disease activity in patients with psoriatic arthritis and active skin disease in the ADEPT trial

Objectives: To determine the proportion of patients with psoriatic arthritis in the Adalimumab Effectiveness in Psoriatic Arthritis trial achieving minimal disease activity (MDA) and its individual components at 1 or more visits over 144 weeks, identify baseline predictors of MDA achievement, and evaluate the association of MDA status with independent quality of life (QoL)-related patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Methods: Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify the baseline characteristics that predicted achievement of MDA at individual time points (weeks 12 through 144) or sustained MDA (achievement of MDA at 2 consecutive time points 12 weeks apart). The association of independent QoL-related PROs with MDA achievement was evaluated at weeks 24 and 144. Results: In univariate analyses, higher baseline patient assessment of pain, tender joint count (TJC), enthesitis and Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) score were significantly associated with lower likelihood of achieving MDA at later time points. Multivariate analyses confirmed higher baseline HAQ-DI as a significant predictor for failure to achieve MDA at later time points. Achievement of sustained MDA was associated with lower baseline TJC and HAQ-DI score. Achievement of different MDA components appeared to be treatment dependent. MDA achievers had significantly better QoL-related PROs and greater improvements in PROs from baseline to week 24 compared with non-achievers. Conclusions: Higher HAQ-DI score was the most consistent baseline factor that decreased the likelihood of achieving MDA and sustained MDA at later time points. Achieving MDA was associated with better independent QoL-related PROs

Management of Axial Disease in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis: An Updated Literature Review Informing the 2021 GRAPPA Treatment Recommendations

Objective. Axial involvement in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a common subset of this condition, but a unanimous definition has yet to be established. It has been defined by using different criteria, ranging from the presence of at least unilateral grade 2 sacroiliitis to those used for ankylosing spondylitis (AS), or simply the presence of inflammatory low back pain (IBP). Our aim was to identify and evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic interventions for treatment of axial disease in PsA.Methods. This systematic review is an update of the axial PsA (axPsA) domain of the treatment recommen-dations project by the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA).Results. The systematic review of the literature showed that new biologic and targeted synthetic dis-ease-modifying antirheumatic drug classes, namely interleukin (IL)-17A and Janus kinase inhibitors, could be considered for the treatment of axPsA. This would be in addition to previously recommended treatments such as nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, physiotherapy, simple analgesia, and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. Conflicting evidence still remains regarding the use of IL-12/23 and IL-23 inhibitors.Conclusion. Further studies are needed for a better understanding of the treatment of axPsA, as well as vali-dated outcome measures

Variability over time and correlates of cholesterol and blood pressure in systemic lupus erythematosus: a longitudinal cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Total cholesterol (TC) and blood pressure (BP) are likely to take a dynamic course over time in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This would have important implications in terms of using single-point-in-time measurements of these variables to assess coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. The objective of this study was to describe and quantify variability over time of TC and BP among patients with SLE and to determine their correlates. METHODS: Patients in the Toronto lupus cohort who had two or more serial measurements of TC and systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) were included in the analysis. Variability over time was described in terms of the proportion of patients whose TC and BP profile fluctuated between normal and elevated (TC > 5.2 mmol/L; SBP ≥ 140 mm Hg or DBP ≥ 90 mm Hg), and also in terms of within- and between-patient variance quantified by using analysis of variance modeling. Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to determine independent correlates of each of TC, SBP, and DBP, treated as continuous outcome variables. RESULTS: In total, 1,260 patients, comprising 26,267 measurements of each of TC, SBP, and DBP, were included. Mean ± SD number of measurements per patient was 20.8 ± 20. Mean ± SD time interval between measurements was 5.4 ± 9.7 months. Mean ± SD time interval from the start to the end of the study was 9.3 ± 8.5 years. Over time, 64.7% of patients varied between having normal and elevated cholesterol levels, whereas the status of 46.4% of patients varied between normotensive and hypertensive. By using analysis of variance (ANOVA), the within-patient percentage of total variance for each of TC, SBP, and DBP was 48.2%, 51.2%, and 63.9%, respectively. By using GEE, independent correlates of TC and BP included age, disease activity, and corticosteroids; antimalarial use was negatively correlated with TC (all P values < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: TC and BP vary markedly over time in patients with SLE. This variability is due not only to lipid-lowering and antihypertensive medications, but also to disease- and treatment-related factors such as disease activity, corticosteroids, and antimalarials. The dynamic nature of TC and BP in SLE makes a compelling case for deriving summary measures that better capture cumulative exposure to these risk factors