Right drug, right patient, right time: aspiration or future promise for biologics in rheumatoid arthritis?

Individualising biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) to maximise outcomes and deliver safe and cost-effective care is a key goal in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Investigation to identify predictive tools of bDMARD response is a highly active and prolific area of research. In addition to clinical phenotyping, cellular and molecular characterisation of synovial tissue and blood in patients with RA, using different technologies, can facilitate predictive testing. This narrative review will summarise the literature for the available bDMARD classes and focus on where progress has been made. We will also look ahead and consider the increasing use of ‘omics’ technologies, the potential they hold as well as the challenges, and what is needed in the future to fully realise our ambition of personalised bDMARD treatment

Medicamentos excepcionais para doença renal crônica: gastos e perfil de utilização em Minas Gerais, Brasil Dispensing of exceptional drugs for chronic renal failure: expenditures and patients' profile in Minas Gerais State, Brazil

No Brasil, os medicamentos para o tratamento da doença renal crônica são disponibilizados gratuitamente pelo Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Este estudo teve como objetivos descrever os gastos públicos com esses medicamentos em Minas Gerais, Brasil, e o perfil dos usuários; objetivou, também, analisar os fatores associados ao gasto médio mensal individual. Observou-se que o gasto total com os medicamentos estudados (R$41,6 milhões) representa uma parcela significativa do gasto total com procedimentos ambulatoriais no SUS (9,6$ 41.6 million, or U$25 million) represents a significant portion of total spending on outpatient procedures in the National health System (9.6%). Most patients are young adult males with arterial hypertension as the main cause of chronic renal failure. Multivariate analysis showed a trend towards lower spending on elderly patients, those with diabetes as the main underlying disease, those using iron hydroxide, and in municipalities with a lower human development index, or HDI (p < 0.05). Finally, the study indicated the importance of management tools that allow monitoring the trajectory of individual patients in the health system and support appropriate health policymaking

Efeitos do exercício físico durante a hemodiálise em indivíduos com insuficiência renal crônica: uma revisão Effects of physical exercise during hemodialysis in patients with chronic renal insufficiency: a literature review

As principais alterações observadas em indivíduos com insuficiência renal crônica são anemia, hipertensão arterial sistêmica e atrofia muscular, que levam à baixa capacidade aeróbica e perda de força muscular. Assim, parte do tratamento desses indivíduos consiste em programas de exercício físico. O objetivo desta revisão da literatura foi documentar os efeitos agudos e as adaptações crônicas, cardiovasculares e musculares em indivíduos no estágio final da doença renal, submetidos a programas de exercício físico durante a hemodiálise. Foram selecionados artigos científicos nas bases eletrônicas Medline, Lilacs e PEDro, assim como no acervo de periódicos da biblioteca da Faculdade de Medicina da UFMG. Foram analisados 13 artigos envolvendo exercício físico aeróbico associado ou não a fortalecimento muscular durante a hemodiálise, variando quanto à intensidade, freqüência e duração da intervenção. A maioria demonstrou que exercícios físicos realizados durante a hemodiálise promovem efeitos benéficos na melhora da capacidade aeróbica, força muscular e no controle dos fatores de risco cardiovasculares, auxiliando a remoção dos solutos durante a hemodiálise. Embora o tema seja ainda pouco explorado, a literatura disponível evidencia benefícios do exercício durante a hemodiálise sobre a capacidade aeróbica e força muscular dos pacientes.<br>Main alterations seen in patients with chronic renal insufficiency are anemia, systemic arterial hypertension, and muscular atrophy, which lead to low aerobic capacity and loss of muscle strength. Hence part of these patients treatment consists in programs of physical exercise. The purpose of this literature review was to assess muscle and cardiovascular acute effects and chronic adaptations in end-stage renal disease patients submitted to physical exercise during hemodialysis. After browsing through Medline, Lilacs and PEDro databases, as well as searching for periodic articles at the UFMG Medicine School library, 13 articles were selected, related to aerobic exercise associated or not to muscle strengthening during hemodialysis. Studies varied as to exercise intensity, frequency and duration. Most articles found that physical exercise performed during hemodialysis favoured better aerobic capacity, muscle strength, and control of cardiovascular risk factors, helping solute removal during hemodialysis. Though the subject is scarcely studied, available literature shows that exercises during hemodialysis are beneficial to patients' aerobic capacity and muscle strength