SUBSCRIBE: eNewsletter
Roche announced this week that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted breakthrough therapy designation of obinutuzumab (Gazyva) for lupus nephritis, a major morbidity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
![Four reasons why refractory lupus nephritis is so hard to treat.](https://www.rheumatologynetwork.com/sites/default/files/styles/trc_article_348x228/public/Ultrasound%20scan%20of%20human%20kidneys.%20%28Alexandr%20Mitiuc%2C%20AdobeStock%2C94381112%29.jpeg?itok=ie4LmVTh "<p><a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/31372070/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Four reasons why refractory lupus nephritis is so hard to treat.</strong></a> In a review article published in the July 12 issue of <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/31372070/\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>Open Access Rheumatology</strong></em></a>, Yo JH et al. outline four problems associated with treating refractory lupus nephritis.</p>
<p>1) Refractory disease is generally assessed using clinical parameters and renal biopsies. But clinical parameters can be unreliable and renal biopsies are not often performed in a standard, or even timely, fashion.</p>
<p>2) There is a difference between clinical and immunological response to therapy. 30-40 percent of patients who atained clinical remission still had persistent inflammation. </p>
<p>3) There is no international consensus on what constitutes refractory lupus nephritis so as a result, clinicians may not know how best to treat these patients.</p>
<p>4) It can be difficult to determine if the treatment failed due to non-adherence or whehter it was a true primary treatment failure. And, "the time point at which non-response becomes treatment failure is unclear."</p>
<p><small>Ultrasound scan of human kidneys. (©AlexandrMitiuc,AdobeStock,94381112)</small></p>")
Investigators are currently pursuing at least 50 possible new treatments, or treatment targets, for systemic lupus and lupus nephritis. We're tracking the studies and in this slideshow, we highlight the results from nine new studies on lupus nephritis.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved nintedanib (Ofev, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals) capsules to slow the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adults with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD), which is a progressive lung disease that can be debilitating and life-threatening.
Levels of the biomarker urine C-telopeptide of cross-linked collagen type II (uCTX-II) are independently associated with radiographic severity and pain intensity in knee osteoarthritis, say researchers writing in Arthritis Research & Therapy this month.
In today's news roundup, we focus on recent advances made in osteoarthritis that touch on cardiovascular issues, bone spurs and treatment modalities.
Rheumatology, the journal of the British Society for Rheumatology, is offering free access (through December 31) to its ten most highly cited papers of 2017 and 2018. In this slideshow, we highlight the 10 most cited articles.
ACR has released the results of a new patient survey that shows one in four patients live with rheumatic disease and although most have health insurance, they still have substantial out of pocket costs. The survey shows that many patents have difficulty getting prescribed medications due to step therapy, a controversial health insurance program that requires patients to use the most cost-effective drug therapy instead of the therapy recommended by their physician.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis often experience flares when symptoms and functionality worsen. Predicting flares and preventing them is a key area of research in rheumatoid arthrits (RA). In this quiz, test how familiar you are with recent findings in this area.
Men with diabetes may have a higher risk of experiencing chronic lower back pain, say researchers writing in BMJ Open this month.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use contributes substantially to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease among patients with osteoarthritis, say researchers writing in Arthritis & Rheumatology last month.
We've noticed that you're using an ad blocker
Our content is brought to you free of charge because of the support of our advertisers. To continue enjoying our content, please turn off your ad blocker.
