Volume 13 Issue 10, October 2017

Interpreting existing patient-reported outcome measures for the experience of remission by patients with rheumatoid arthritis is not straightforward. The challenge is to find a better, more accurate measure.

Increasing evidence points to a mechanistic link between gut and joint pathology as the gut contains the largest number of immune cells of any tissue and trillions of commensals that contribute to immune development and homeostasis. New research is putting the role of Ruminococcus gnavus in arthritic disease in the spotlight.

The newly published findings from the Chondroitin Versus Celecoxib Versus Placebo Trial (CONCEPT) underscore the complexity of performing clinical trials in the field of knee osteoarthritis. But do the results of CONCEPT merit the consideration of chondroitin sulfate as a first-line therapy?

Rapid progress in the fields of giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica has resulted in the introduction of imaging techniques into routine clinical practice and in promising reports on the efficacy of biologic agents for treatment. Further research should further advance our understanding of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, imaging and treatment of these diseases.

Epigenetic alterations are increasingly being associated with the pathogenesis of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. In this Review, Ballestar and Li outline the current state of research into the role of epigenetics in such diseases and the possibility of epigenetic-targeting therapies.

The amount of clinical, serological and experimental evidence linking periodontitis to rheumatoid arthritis is constantly increasing. In this Review, Potempa and colleagues lay out the case for periodontal pathogens in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Serum autoantibodies have a wide range of glycosylation patterns. In this Review, the authors describe the role of autoantibody glycosylation in the pathology of autoimmune disease, and how understanding the role of specific antibody glycoforms might optimize current treatment approaches.