The best site to determine bone loss in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients is the femoral neck, according to Swedish researchers. The study, “Which measuring site in ankylosing spondylitis is best to detect bone loss and what predicts the decline: results from a 5-year prospective study,” was…
Early disease onset and long disease duration may increase the risk of additional diseases in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, according to the results of a Swedish study. The study, “Patterns of comorbidity and disease characteristics among patients with ankylosing spondylitis—a cross-sectional study,” was published in the journal…
Blood levels of a specific form of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies may help diagnose ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with high specificity, a small study reports. The study, “Serum IgG N-glycans act as novel serum biomarkers of ankylosing spondylitis“ was published in the journal Annals of Rheumatic Diseases. AS is…
Intravenous infusion of Simponi Aria (golimumab) significantly improves ankylosing spondylitis (AS) symptoms in adults, an ongoing Phase 3 trial shows. The results through week 28 of the GO-ALIVE trial were published in the Journal of Rheumatology in an article titled “Safety and Efficacy of Golimumab Administered…
Methotrexate alone or combined with therapies targeting the inflammatory tumor necrosis factor (TNF) may help improve the endothelium function – the thin membrane that lines the inside of the heart and blood vessels – in patients with inflammatory arthritis. The study, “Methotrexate and anti-tumor necrosis factor treatment…
The European Union has expanded its approval of the rheumatic disease therapy UCB’s Cimzia t0 include women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. UCB’s treatment becomes the first anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy to cover these patients. The label change was approved by the European Medicines Agency. TNF is a pro-inflammatory cytokine, or molecule…
Improved diagnosis and management of fatigue and depression among people with ankylosing spondylitis can help reduce the risk of job loss in this population, researchers suggest. The study, “Association of work instability with fatigue and emotional status in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: comparison with healthy controls,” was…
Novartis recently initiated a Phase 3 clinical trial comparing its FDA-approved therapy Cosentyx (secukinumab) with GP2017 — an adalimumab biosimilar — in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. The trial, called SURPASS (NCT03259074), is a head-to-head study testing the benefit of Cosentyx to the biosimilar GP2017 in reducing the progression of spinal…
Pain in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) may stem from factors other than spinal inflammation, researchers said after discovering that the main subjective factors of disease activity were associated with the use of opioid medication. Researchers found that particularly chronic opioid use did not relate to any objectively measurable…
Low-radiation dose computed tomography (ldCT) scans are more sensitive in detecting the progression of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) than commonly used radiographs, a study suggests. Published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, the study showed that ldCTs combined with a specific scoring measure can provide more detailed and…
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