| 1. |
- Askling, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Anti-TNF therapy in RA and risk of malignant lymphomas Relative risks and time-trends in the Swedish Biologics Register
- 2008
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Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 68:5, s. 648-653
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists have proved effective as treatment against rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the unresolved issue of whether the use of anti-TNF therapy increases the already elevated risk of lymphoma in RA remains a concern.Methods: Using the Swedish Biologics Register (ARTIS), the Swedish Cancer Register, pre-existing RA cohorts and cross-linkage with other national health and census registers, a national RA cohort (n = 67 743) was assembled and patients who started anti-TNF therapy between 1998 and July 2006 (n = 6604) were identified. A general population comparator (n = 471 024) was also assembled and the incidence of lymphomas from 1999 to 31 December 2006 was assessed and compared in these individuals.Results: Among the 6604 anti-TNF-treated RA patients, 26 malignant lymphomas were observed during 26 981 person-years of follow-up, which corresponded to a relative risk (RR) of 1.35 (95% CI 0.82 to 2.11) versus anti-TNF-naive RA patients (336 lymphomas during 365 026 person-years) and 2.72 (95% CI 1.82 to 4.08) versus the general population comparator (1568 lymphomas during 3 355 849 person-years). RA patients starting anti-TNF therapy in 1998–2001 accounted for the entire increase in lymphoma risk versus the two comparators. By contrast, RR did not vary significantly by time since start of first treatment or with the accumulated duration of treatment, nor with the type of anti-TNF agent.Conclusion: Overall and as used in routine care against RA, TNF antagonists are not associated with any major further increase in the already elevated lymphoma occurrence in RA. Changes in the selection of patients for treatment may influence the observed risk.
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| 2. |
- Askling, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Risk and case characteristics of tuberculosis in rheumatoid arthritis associated with tumor necrosis factor antagonists in Sweden
- 2005
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Ingår i: Arthritis and Rheumatism. - : Wiley. - 0004-3591 .- 1529-0131. ; 52:7, s. 1986-1992
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE:Because treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists may increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB), and because knowledge of the risk of TB in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) not treated with biologics is scarce and of uncertain generalizability to low-risk populations, this study sought to determine the risk of TB among Swedish patients with RA.METHODS:Using data from Swedish nationwide and population-based registers and data from an ongoing monitoring program of TNF antagonists, the relative risks of TB in patients with RA (versus the general population) and of TB associated with TNF antagonists (versus RA patients not treated with biologics) were determined by comparing the incidence of hospitalization for TB in 3 RA cohorts and 2 general population cohorts from 1999 to 2001. We also reviewed the characteristics of all reported cases of TB in RA patients treated with TNF antagonists in Sweden and calculated the incidence of TB per type of TNF antagonist between 1999 and 2004.RESULTS:During 1999-2001, RA patients who were not treated with TNF antagonists were at increased risk of TB versus the general population (relative risk 2.0, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.2-3.4). RA patients treated with TNF antagonists had a 4-fold increased risk of TB (relative risk 4.0, 95% CI 1.3-12) versus RA patients not treated with TNF antagonists. The reported TB cases during 1999-2004 in RA patients exposed to TNF antagonists (9 infliximab, 4 etanercept, 2 both) were predominantly pulmonary. TB occurred up to 3 years following the start of treatment.CONCLUSION:Irrespective of whether TNF antagonists are administered, Swedish patients with RA are at increased risk of TB. During 1999-2001, TNF antagonists were associated with an increased risk of TB, up to 4-fold in magnitude. This increased risk may persist over time during treatment and is related to both infliximab and etanercept.
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| 3. |
- Askling, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Time-dependent increase in risk of hospitalisation with infection among Swedish RA patients treated with TNF antagonists
- 2007
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Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 66:10, s. 1339-1344
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES:The degree to which treatment with tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists may be associated with increased risks for serious infections is unclear. An observational cohort study was performed using prospectively collected data from the Swedish Biologics Register (ARTIS) and other national Swedish registers.METHODS:First, in the ARTIS, all 4167 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients starting TNF antagonist treatment between 1999 and 2003 were identified. Secondly, in the Swedish Inpatient Register, all individuals hospitalised for any reason and who also carried a diagnosis of RA, between 1964 and 2003 (n = 44 946 of whom 2692 also occurred in ARTIS), were identified. Thirdly, in the Swedish Inpatient Register, all hospitalisations listing an infection between 1999 and 2003 were identified. By cross-referencing these three data sets, RRs for hospitalisation with infection associated with TNF antagonist treatment were calculated within the cohort of 44 946 RA patients, using Cox regression taking sex, age, geography, co-morbidity and use of inpatient care into account.RESULTS:Among the 4167 patients treated with TNF antagonists, 367 hospitalisations with infections occurred during 7776 person-years. Within the cohort of 44 496 RA patients, the RR for infection associated with TNF antagonists was 1.43 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.73) during the first year of treatment, 1.15 (95% CI 0.88 to 1.51) during the second year of treatment, and 0.82 (95% CI 0.62 to 1.08) for subjects remaining on their first TNF antagonist treatment after 2 years.CONCLUSION:Treatment with TNF antagonists may be associated with a small to moderate increase in risk of hospitalisation with infection, which disappears with increasing treatment duration.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Sejersen, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Serum calprotectin correlates stronger with inflammation and disease activity in ACPA positive than ACPA negative rheumatoid arthritis
- 2023
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Ingår i: Rheumatology. - : Oxford University Press. - 1462-0324 .- 1462-0332.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of serum and SF levels of the granulocyte protein calprotectin as an inflammatory biomarker in RA patients with knee synovitis.MethodsSeventy-six RA patients with ongoing knee synovitis were included. Data on DAS with 28 joints and their subcomponents and radiological destruction of the affected knee were collected. White blood cell count, CRP, ACPA against cyclic citrullinated peptide version 2 (anti-CCP2), IgM RF and calprotectin were analysed in parallel in circulation and in SF. Counts of polynuclear and mononuclear cells were measured in SF.ResultsSerum (S)-calprotectin correlated more strongly than SF-calprotectin with inflammatory markers and disease activity. Instead, SF-calprotectin showed a strong correlation to SF counts of white blood cells, and especially to polymorphonuclear cell counts (Spearman’s ρ = 0.72, P < 0.001). S-calprotectin showed markedly stronger correlation with inflammatory markers and disease activity in ACPA positive as compared with ACPA negative RA patients; a similar difference was observed for patients with and without IgM RF.ConclusionThe particularly strong association between circulating calprotectin and inflammation in ACPA positive RA is a new argument for a specific role for polymorphonuclear granulocytes/neutrophils in this RA subset. Measurement of calprotectin in SF does not convey any additional benefit compared with measurement in the circulation in RA patients with knee synovitis.
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| 6. |
- Sohrabian, Azita, et al.
(författare)
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Number of individual ACPA reactivities in synovial fluid immune complexes, but not serum anti-CCP2 levels, associate with inflammation and joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis
- 2018
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Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 77:9, s. 1345-1353
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Individual patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) show divergent specific anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA) patterns, but hitherto no individual ACPA specificity has consistently been linked to RA pathogenesis. ACPA are also implicated in immune complexes (IC)-associated joint pathology, but until now, there has been no method to investigate the role of individual ACPA in RA IC formation and IC-associated pathogenesis.Methods: We have developed a new technique based on IC binding to C1q-coated magnetic beads to purify and solubilise circulating IC in sera and synovial fluids (SF) from 77 patients with RA. This was combined with measurement of 19 individual ACPA in serum, SF and in the IC fractions from serum and SF. We investigated whether occurrence of individual ACPA as well as number of ACPA in these compartments was related to clinical and laboratory measures of disease activity and inflammation.Results: The majority of individual ACPA reactivities were enriched in SF as compared with in serum, and levels of ACPA in IC were regulated independently of levels in serum and SF. No individual ACPA reactivity in any compartment showed a dominating association to clinical and laboratory measures of disease activity and severity. Instead, the number of individual ACPA reactivities in the IC fraction from SF associated with a number of markers of joint destruction and inflammation.Conclusions: Our data highlight the polyclonality of ACPA in joint IC and the possibility that a broad ACPA repertoire in synovial fluid IC might drive the local inflammatory and matrix-degrading processes in joints, in analogy with antibody-induced rodent arthritis models.
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| 7. |
- Weitoft, Tomas, et al.
(författare)
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Cathepsin S and cathepsin L in serum and synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis with and without autoantibodies
- 2015
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Ingår i: Rheumatology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1462-0324 .- 1462-0332. ; 54:10, s. 1923-1928
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Cathepsin S and cathepsin L are endosomal proteolytic enzymes involved in the degradation of extracellular matrixes, angiogenesis and antigen presentation. Cathepsins could thus play several roles in the disease process of RA. The aim of this study was to examine differences in cathepsin S and cathepsin L levels in serum and SF of RA patients with and without ACPA and RF.METHODS: In this study 121 patients with RA and clinical signs of knee synovitis were recruited. Patient characteristics were collected and matched samples of serum and SF were analysed for cathepsin S, cathepsin L, ACPA, IgA and IgM RF, CRP and MMP3.RESULTS: SF levels of cathepsin L, cathepsin S and MMP3 were significantly higher than in serum. Serum levels of both cathepsins were significantly higher in patients with ACPA, IgM-RF and IgA-RF compared with patients without these antibodies. SF levels of both cathepsins correlated with DAS28 and CRP in ACPA- and RF-positive but not in seronegative patients.CONCLUSION: The differences in cathepsin S and cathepsin L between RA patients with and without autoantibodies indicate that these cathepsins have a specific role in the disease process of seropositive RA. In this phenotype, cathepsin serum levels may reflect the autoimmune activity, whereas the levels in SF may reflect the local inflammatory and matrix degrading process in the joint.
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