News

Nearly half of patients admitted to the hospital for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are discharged to somewhere other than home or return to the hospital within three months, according to a study from over 150 hospitals under HCA Healthcare. Receiving medications such as opioids and steroids during a hospital stay…

Reductions in an epigenetic marker — a type of chemical modification to DNA — called H3K27me3 were seen in people with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in a new study, according to researchers, who say these findings shed light on the mechanisms of the chronic inflammatory disease. The scientists believe…

While some people with recent-onset axial spondyloarthritis whose joint damage isn’t visible on an X-ray will progress within 10 years to ankylosing spondylitis (AS), where joint damage becomes evident on an X-ray, the risk is relatively low, a French study found. The risk was about halved in patients on TNF inhibitors, but more…

A two-week tailored physical therapy program — comprising physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy — led to significant improvements in spinal mobility and function among people with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), a new study shows. Improvements were assessed using an electronic device, called Epionics SPINE (ES), which objectively evaluates spinal…

Certain immune signaling molecules belonging to a family of proteins called cytokines were at altered levels in the blood of men with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) under treatment compared with men in the general population, a study found. Three cytokines with known pro-inflammatory functions — IL-17A, CXCL10, and CXCL16 —…

The gut microbiome, the collection of microbes that populate the intestinal tract, could influence the way people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and associated peripheral spondyloarthritis (SpA) respond to sulfasalazine — a medication commonly used to treat IBD that’s also been shown to be effective for SpA. That’s according to…

Changes in the abundance of a bacterial called Escherichia_Shigella within the digestive tract of people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may be related to the development of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), a new study revealed. Among the IBD patients, 1 out of every 5 had an axSpA diagnosis, and half lived…

Adding Xeljanz (tofacitinib) to treatment with biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) when these medications aren’t working well may help adults with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) keep their disease activity under control, a study suggests. Because the study included only a few patients, “further prospective randomized controlled trials with large…

People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at significantly higher risk for various forms of spondyloarthritis (SpA), including ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a study found. But the reverse wasn’t true: Having SpA was not linked to an increased risk of developing IBD, according to the new analysis, which used genetic…

High blood levels of two microRNAs, a type of small molecule involved in controlling which genes are turned on and off in cells, may predict a poor response to TNF inhibitors in people with ankylosing spondylitis, according to a study in China. While those…