WCO-IOF-ESCEO took place between 4-7 May and brought all of the latest clinical findings and advances in osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal diseases. We were delighted to talk with Editorial Board member Prof. Nicholas Fuggle (MRC Life Force Epidemiology Centre, University of Southampton, UK) around his personal highlights from this year’s conference and the most promising […]

touchIMMUNOLOGY spoke with editorial board member Alessia Alunno (University of L’Aquila, Italy) to discuss her highlights from the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) annual meeting in the field of Sjögren’s syndrome, and summarize the main take-home messages from her presentation. The abstract ‘COVID-19 severity and vaccine breakthrough infections in Sjögren’s syndrome: results from the […]

The COLOR trial is a  single-centre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial that aimed to investigate colchicine’s efficacy and safety compared with placebo in people with hand osteoarthritis. touchIMMUNOLOGY were delighted to speak with Dr Anna Døssing (The Parker Institute, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark) about the findings of the COLOR trial and what further investigation is […]

touchIMMUNOLOGY spoke with editorial board member Jérôme Avouac (Hôpital Cochin, Paris, France) to discuss his highlights from the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) annual meeting in the field of rheumatoid arthritis, and his presentation on the potential of CD19-targeted CAR-T cell transfer for systemic sclerosis. The abstract ‘Effects of B cell depletion by […]

Although biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) are significantly cheaper now that biosimilar agents are available, they still represent a significant cost to health services worldwide, particularly since their prescription has only increased since the thresholds for commencing this treatment have been lowered. For example, in 2017/8, the total cost of adalimumab to the NHS in England […]

Systemic rheumatic diseases (RDs) commonly arise during a woman’s reproductive years and may have implications for family planning and pregnancy. Among the RDs, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) are classically associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs), including miscarriage, foetal loss, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and preterm delivery.1–4 Although SLE pregnancy outcomes have improved over time, maternal mortality remains higher in women […]

Spondyloarthritides are chronic rheumatic diseases associated with diverse extra-articular manifestations, such as psoriasis, uveitis and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), namely Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Historically, spondyloarthritis (SpA) was divided into several subcategories, namely, ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis, enteropathic arthritis, reactive arthritis and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy. Given the possible overlap between these different entities, it is now preferred to use a phenotypic classification, […]

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a typical complication of psoriasis (PSO) that is often accompanied by nail PSO, vertebral and/or pelvic involvement, enthesitis and iritis. PsA leads to the destruction and/or ankylosis of the peripheral joints or spine, resulting in poor quality of life.1 Interleukin (IL)-23, IL-17 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) play a pivotal role in […]